Newcastle United have submitted their third bid for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.
The Magpies have had two bids rejected for the 24-year-old defender, with Palace demanding a fee of around £65 million.
Newcastle have now submitted a fee of around £55 million for the England centre-back, which could rise as high up to £60 million if add-ons are taken into account, but it is still below Palace’s asking price.
While his contract doesn’t include a release clause, Palace have been demanding this fee from the beginning.
According to Lee Ryder, Newcastle would like a “quick decision” on their latest bid, which could potentially be their last bid for the player.
Put simply, Newcastle is not willing to pay more than what they have offered, and they believe a compromise can be reached.
The Magpies will move on to other targets if they fail to land him.
The reason why Palace are demanding a high transfer fee is because 20% of the Guehi fee will go to Chelsea after the Blues negotiated a portion of any future transfer.
Guehi wants clarity on his future. He still has two years remaining on his current deal at Selhurst Park, but it has been reported that the defender would prefer a move to St James’ Park this summer.
If Crystal Palace sell him, they will look to sign replacements, with the Eagles looking to sign Ivory Coast defender Odilon Kossounou and Wolfsburg defender Maxence Lacroix.
Newcastle already added Lloyd Kelly this summer on a free transfer, but Eddie Howe wants to sign another top-quality centre-back. The Magpies will miss the services of both Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles for a major part of next season.
Howe needs to sign a right-sided attacking midfielder as well and the final few weeks of the transfer window could become very interesting.
