Martin Keown has warned Newcastle that they should stop their pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.
The Magpies’ club-record offer of £65 million was rejected by the Eagles, the fourth rejected offer for the English centre-back.
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The Pitch Prospect has learned that Palace still wants more money.
And this despite the fact that Newcastle had reportedly matched the South Londoner’s Guehi’s valuation.
And that could see the Toons exploring alternative options – including Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah – as head coach Eddie Howe is determined to sign a new centre-back.
Guehi made 29 appearances for Palace last season, taking his club stats to five goals in 111 appearances.
He helped Palace finish tenth in the league and the team enjoyed a remarkable end to the season, remaining unbeaten in their final seven games.
The 24-year-old then proved to be something of a sensation in the summer when he took on a key role in England’s squad for the 2024 European Championship.
He played every minute of the group stage, partnered John Stones in defence, and was praised as one of England’s most consistent players throughout the tournament.
But Arsenal Invincible and The Pitch Prospect expert Keown believes Newcastle’s persistence in chasing Guehi is not necessarily a smart move.
Speaking to Jim White and Simon Jordan, he explained why he had reservations about the club’s stubborn approach so far.
“I think he’s a very good player,” he explained. “But I think there are limits. And I wonder if there has to be a limit to this bragging rights as to what they can pay.”
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“I think they should resign at this point.”
But Jordan was quick to respond, asking why Keown was particularly concerned about the magnitude of this potential transfer compared to some other transfers in the past.
“So if Arsenal sign a 19-year-old like Saliba for £27 million to play 16 games, that’s fine,” he recalled. “On the other hand, you have Guehi, who has been a revelation in Europe, who is a mainstay at Crystal Palace and a team that is often under pressure. Why do you defy market forces?”
“Well, because I’m not entirely sure that’s the right area for Newcastle to concentrate its forces in,” Keown replied.
“I think they’ve got plenty of defenders there. I mean, they brought Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth, who might be a little diamond they could dig up.”
“I wonder if that’s why Eddie brought him in. Maybe he’s realized now that he’s not quite as far along as he thought he was in the preseason. So he wants to bring in Guehi instead. And maybe the defense is getting old. And he wants to make a few changes.
“But I would have thought there was talk of [Alexander] Isak must leave the football club in order to meet the requirements of Financial Fair Play.
“And now they’re paying £65 million for a defender. That feels really strange.”
However, ahead of Newcastle’s first league game against newly promoted Southampton on Saturday (live on The Pitch Prospect 2), Howe stressed that the club would not shell out a disproportionate sum for Guehi.
Asked if the club had avoided such a situation in the past, he said: “It happened to us many times in my time here, especially in the beginning when there was a kind of ‘Newcastle tax’ on all deals. When we called, the price doubled. So we often thought: ‘No, that’s not for us. We’re not going to go down that path where we feel like we’re paying the players too much.’
“That has changed a bit because people have recognised the dynamic and seen that we are not going to pay insane transfer fees for players. I think things are now more normal again.”
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When asked whether any concrete deals were close to being concluded, he said: “Not that I know of.”
He added: “We are confident. We are working hard. There is no lack of external efforts, but as I said, we are still a long way from that point.”
Palace face Brentford on Sunday and manager Oliver Glasner announced that Guehi will be available.
“Yes, Marc trained with us today, we talked,” said Glasner during his press conference before the game.
“I don’t have any further information, I have to check my bank account to see if anything has arrived, but it doesn’t look like it [it] so we plan the game with Marc.
“He is our player, our captain and I can’t tell you anything else.”
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