Newcastle United isn’t giving up on acquiring Marc Guehi, a defender for Crystal Palace.
Newcastle United will strive to recruit a “difference maker” until the “last second” of the transfer window, according to Eddie Howe’s pledge.
One week remains until deadline day, and Newcastle has not made any progress in its lengthy talks with Crystal Palace to sign defender Marc Guehi. Although Newcastle is still pursuing the England international as their first goal, they are also looking at other center backs in case a deal cannot be reached.
Newcastle have previously shown similar persistence to land players like Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon in the final days of the window in years gone by. Could history be about to repeat itself?
Although Howe participated in the “painting process” of selecting targets such as Guehi, the Newcastle manager is now “a step removed” from the discussions as Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is handled by sports director Paul Mitchell. When the team sheets are released at Selhurst Park on Saturday, Crystal Palace may provide more information regarding the status of the agreement. As it stands, it would be shocking if Guehi did not captain his team against West Ham, especially in light of the Eagles’ decision to sell defensive partner Joachim Andersen to Fulham.
Newcastle appears to be lacking in depth at the back as well. Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles are both out for three games due to significant knee injuries; also, Fabian Schar is still suspended following the club’s unsuccessful attempt to get the defender’s three-match punishment revoked.
Emil Krafth, a right-back by trade, replaced Dan Burn in the match against Southampton last week after Schar was sent out. Even though Lloyd Kelly is vying for his first competitive start when the Magpies play old side Bournemouth on Sunday, it served as a timely reminder of how strained Newcastle is.
Despite Kelly’s successful transfer to Newcastle on a free transfer, the black and whites have found it difficult to recruit a center-back who can ‘push the group to new levels’ due to the limited number of players they are considering. Being a manager who once had to deal with a transfer embargo in his early days at Bournemouth, Howe’s admission that this was the “most difficult” window he had ever faced is noteworthy.
“If you asked any manager sat in my seat, the aim would always be to improve your squad every window,” the manager of Newcastle stated. You would always want that, whether it’s one person who makes a big impact or two or three very talented players that lift your club up.
“You have to deal with the market that is in front of you, but we would want them as soon as possible so you can shape them to your values and playing style. All you can do is try to maximize the performance of the guys you have, and that’s precisely what we’re attempting to do.
“We continue to operate in the market. We still have some time to try and strengthen the team.”
The market has been heating up in recent weeks, but because most clubs are being extremely cautious with their PSR calculations, this summer has been drastically different from the previous one. Even though most of Newcastle’s competitors have spent more overall, if the Magpies match Crystal Palace’s estimated £70 million valuation, Guehi would really be the most expensive acquisition of the summer. In contrast, a handful of players who transferred for prices ranging from £60m to £100m last summer including Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo, Josko Gvardiol, Rasmus Hojlund, Kai Havertz, and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Whatever transpires over the next week, according to Howe, ‘priority number one’ is keeping most of the squad intact, which includes veteran Kieran Trippier, who has drawn attention from Everton, Atalanta, and Galatasaray.
“Hopefully,” he continued. “I can never answer these questions with absolute certainty because it is football and the transfer window is always unpredictable, but my wish is that he stays here and continues to play for us.”
READ MORE ON:https://sportip.co.uk/