Man Utd look to ‘fight’ for Liverpool target with Ashworth ‘a fan’ of Premier League star
Liverpool are in the race to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, who is also wanted by Manchester United, according to reports.
Guehi is one of a few Eagles stars on the radar of the biggest clubs in the Premier League.
The centre-back has impressed since joining the club from Chelsea for £18million in 2021 and has become a mainstay in Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
He is one of the favourites to start for the Three Lions next to John Stones at the European Championships this summer.
New Palace manager Oliver Glasner is prioritising keeping the club in the Premier League but will have to deal with lots of interest in Guehi, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise in the summer.
A report from the Telegraph provides an update on all three players, with Liverpool now looking at signing Guehi ahead of Manchester United.
Both Premier League giants are facing an uncertain summer, however, with the Red Devils still without a director of football.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are also looking to appoint someone to oversee their transfers, and are also searching for a replacement for manager Jurgen Klopp.
United are hoping to add Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth as their new sporting director but are reluctant to pay the Magpies a £20m compensation package.
Ashworth ‘is known to be a fan’ of Guehi and ‘was interested’ in bringing him to Newcastle, the report states.
The Red Devils’ interest will likely ramp up if Ashworth joins the club, but Guehi is already ‘on a list of proposed summer targets’ for Liverpool, even if they do not know who will be their manager and sporting director next season.
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‘A fight’ with United could be on the cards with Glasner ‘already facing a battle to hold on to the club’s star players this summer’.
Chelsea are also in the picture as they have ‘a matching option they can leverage should they want to enter the race to sign him’ as well as a sell-on clause.
There is not ‘a straight buy-back agreement’ between Palace and the Blues, who ‘are likely to be in the market for a central defender this summer with Thiago Silva set to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season’.
Under contract until 2026, Guehi is very unlikely to sign a new deal, so Palace will probably look to sell the 24-year-old, whose ‘value will be at its highest’ in the summer transfer window.
As well as Guehi, Palace are ‘facing a fight to keep hold of Olise’, who has become a top target for Manchester United.
There is a vain hope at Selhurst Park that big clubs may be reluctant to pay big money for the winger given his injury troubles this campaign.
Olise has a release clause in his contract and could be followed out the door by Eze, who has also struggled with injuries.
Eze agreed a new contract last November but this is not expected to stop interested clubs from making an attempt to sign him at the end of the season.
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