Newcastle United’s pursuit of Marc Guehi seems to have come to an unceremonious end after Crystal Palace rejected various bids for the England international – but with a centre-back clearly wanted by Eddie Howe, it appears that he doesn’t want anyone else to come in, with Dean Jones exclusively telling Sportsynergy that the Magpies boss turned down the opportunity to sign £38.5million star Chelsea’s Axel Disasi.
Newcastle seemed close to securing a deal for Guehi earlier in the month, but talks have dragged on and with Fulham completing the signing of Palace centre-back Joachim Andersen, it appears as though Guehi will remain at Selhurst Park – though Newcastle won’t go for alternatives.
Speaking exclusively to Sportsynergy, Jones stated that Newcastle were offered the chance to sign Disasi from Chelsea – but Howe didn’t want him, with his viewpoint being that anything other than Guehi was not worth completing. He said:
“Newcastle were given chance to sign Disasi but Eddie Howe seems adamant he does not want him.
His view on this is it was Marc Guehi or nothing, so even now throwing someone like Chalobah into the frame does not really fit with the elevation he felt he would be getting from the Guehi deal.”
Guehi would have been a strong signing for Newcastle after his impressive performances for England at EURO 2024, but at £70million or more, there is value elsewhere in the transfer window that they could look to exploit.
Trevoh Chalobah and Disasi – who has been called a ‘monster’ before – are two examples, but even then, it doesn’t seem like a position that needs strengthening as such. The Magpies boast Sven Botman, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, Lloyd Kelly and Dan Burn in their squad who can all play a starting centre-back role when required and though Guehi would be an upgrade, spending said money on a right-winger to start over hit-and-miss talent Miguel Almiron could be more beneficial to the club.
