'There are limits': Newcastle must walk away from Marc Guehi deal after making fourth offer

Martin Keown has warned Newcastle that they should stop pursuing Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.

The Magpies have submitted a fourth bid for the England centre-back, which talkSPORT understands is worth £65m.

Palace They have rejected three previous offers, the last of which was worth around £60m.

However, this will be the first offer to meet the Eagles' minimum valuation of £65. Gehi.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe are determined to sign a new centre-back for the new season, with Chelsea outcast Trevor Chalobah a last-choice alternative should Guehi go down.

The 24-year-old made 29 appearances for Palace last season, taking his club record to five goals in 111 games.

The club finished an impressive tenth in the league, having a remarkable end to the campaign that saw them unbeaten in their final seven games.

Guehi then proved to be something of a sensation over the summer by assuming a key role in England's Euro 2024 squad.

He played every minute of the group stage, partnering John Stones in defence, and was praised as one of England's most consistent players throughout the tournament.

But Arsenal are unbeatable and talkSPORT's pundit Keown believes Newcastle are not necessarily making a smart move by pursuing Guehi with such persistence.

Speaking to Jim White and Simon Jordan, he explained why he had reservations about the club's dogged approach so far.

“I think he's a very good player,” he explained. “But I think there are limits. And I wonder if this bravado… you know, there has to be a limit to what they can afford.”

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“I think they should step aside at this point.”

But Jordan was quick to respond, asking why the scale of this particular potential transfer concerned Keown, compared to some others in the past.

“So when Arsenal sign a 19-year-old like Saliba for £27m to play 16 games (it's not a big deal),” he recalled. “Whereas you have Guehi, who was a revelation in the European Cup, who has been a mainstay at Crystal Palace and a team that is often under pressure. Why are they resisting market forces?”

“Well, because I'm not particularly sure that's the right area for Newcastle to strengthen,” Keown replied.

“I think they've got a lot of defenders there. I mean, they signed Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth, who could be a little diamond they could unearth.

“I wonder if that's why Eddie brought him in. Maybe he's now realised that he's not as good in the pre-season as he thought he would be. That's why he wants Guehi to come in for him. And it's an ageing defence, maybe. And he wants to make some changes.

“But I would have thought, you know, that there was talk that Isak had to leave the football club to comply with the details of Financial Fair Play.

“And now they're paying £65m for a defender. So that strikes me as very strange.”

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However, speaking ahead of Newcastle's opening league clash against newly-promoted Southampton on Saturday 17 August, Howe insisted the club would not shell out a disproportionate sum for Guehi.

Asked whether the club could have walked away from a situation like this in the past, he said: “We've done it many times during my time here, especially early on when there was a 'Newcastle tax' on any deal where when we called the price would double, so many times we said, 'No, that's not for us, we're not going to go down that route where we feel we're paying too much for players'.

“That's changed a bit because people have seen the dynamic, that we're not going to pay ridiculous fees for players, so I think it's more back to normal now.”

Asked if any specific deal was close to being finalized, he said: “Not that I'm aware of.”

He added: “We are hopeful. We are working hard. There is no lack of effort from outside but, as I said before, there is nothing like it.”

Palace face Brentford on Sunday and manager Oliver Glasner has revealed that Guehi will be available.

“Well yes, Marc trained with us today, we spoke together,” Glasner said during his pre-match press conference.

“I don't have any more information, I'll have to check my bank account to see if anything has come in but it doesn't seem like it so we planned the match with Marc.

“He is our player, our captain and I can't tell you anything else.”