Tottenham Hotspur are claimed to be keen admirers of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, according to journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke.
The north Londoners have been linked with a move for Guehi for a while, with the The Daily Mail reporting back in May of their interest.
Managing Director of Football Fabio Paratici is said to be a keen admirer of the former Chelsea player, while it has been claimed Spurs could decide to target another defender despite making Djed Spence their sixth signing this summer (Evening Standard).
Unfortunately for Antonio Conte’s side, it is reporred that Palace are highly unlikely to sell Guehi, who has a contract until 2026. Patrick Vieira’s team have no plans to part ways with the 22-year-old, and the chances of their stance being changed are close to being non-existent as they could sell him for an irrefutable offer.
(Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Speaking to the The Last Word on Spurs YouTube channel, Pitt-Brooke said: “So Guehi they really like. Paratici definitely really likes Marc Guehi. There is a guy that is young, English, homegrown, plays for England and he can play along the backline. He’s a fantastic player and there’s a lot of upside to him.”
“He has four years left on his Crystal Palace contract and Palace don’t get pushed around if someone wants their players, Palace have no incentive to sell him for anything short of crazy money, so the prospect of Spurs doing a deal with Palace for Guehi is basically zero. Maybe in two years’ time, they can come back and negotiate, but I don’t think it’s possible, but they do definitely like him.”
Our View
Guehi’s rise after leaving Chelsea has been more than impressive which has helped him to make his debut for the England national team. In fact, he has even broken into Gareth Southgate’s plans for the 2022 Qatar World Cup after assisting the Eagles to become the seventh-best defence in the Premier League last season.
Guehi instantly became a regular for Vieira’s side as he made 42 appearances for them in the previous campaign. The 21-year-old also garnered four goals, one assist and 13 clean sheets in that period, which is an impressive tally indeed (Transfermarkt).
We are faced with some issues when it comes to the rules regarding the number of homegrown players that are needed in a particular squad (Football.London). The requirements also change between the Champions League and the PL, so Guehi’s addition would have helped us as he would be qualified to be added to that list.
We could use some central defenders in our ranks since Clement Lenglet will Barcelona after his season-long loan spell with us (Daily Mail). Ben Davies, meanwhile, is not a natural centre-back, while Joe Rodon (The Sun) and Japhet Tanganga (AC Milan Info) have been touted as potential exits this summer.
Guehi would have been perfect to meet our needs, but Palace have made a name for themselves in their stubbornness when it comes to keeping hold of their stars. Hence we may be forced to not target him for the time being and try our cards sometime in the future.
