Newcastle United are still scrambling to get the transfer deal for Marc Guehi done as Crystal Palace gear up to turn down their latest bid.
It is that Crystal Palace abruptly increased their asking price for Marc Guehi to well than £70 million following a £65 million, add-on-filled bid from Newcastle.
Fans and even journalists were understandably highly confident when the news of the fourth proposal leaked; after all, Newcastle had reached the amount that everyone believed would be sufficient to persuade Palace to accept.
However, The Telegraph reports that Palace appears to be requesting more than £70 million.
A clause based on Champions League qualification won’t wash with Palace
The Telegraph’s report also makes the compelling argument that Newcastle has added conditions to the agreement that would only apply if Newcastle United qualified for the Champions League—something that Palace is unwilling to agree to.
Although Newcastle had previously qualified for the Champions League once under the current ownership, the Magpies were unable to qualify for Europe last season due to a combination of extreme injury luck and exhaustion from playing more games than usual.
Apparently, in light of this, Crystal Palace is refusing to consider any terms that rely on Newcastle winning Champions League football.
There’s definitely still a deal to be done
If that is what is holding up the deal rather than a change in valuation, that does change things. We can totally understand Crystal Palace’s trepidation over a Champions League clause. They are going to want every penny on the table so of course they are only going to want clauses that they feel are 100% achievable.
Newcastle would, in our view, be a lot more likely to qualify for the Champions League with Marc Guehi in the squad, but it’s by no means guaranteed.
After getting over the initial shock of the reports of the bid being turned down again, the confidence that the deal gets done is starting to return. Provided he doesn’t get injured playing for Crystal Palace on Sunday, which would just be typical of our luck.
READ MORE ON:https://sportip.co.uk/