Newcastle United have scouted Swansea City loan Marc Guehi but aren’t viewed as a likely destination for the Chelsea defender.
What’s the latest Newcastle United transfer news?
The Athletic claim Steve Bruce’s side have run the rule over the 20-year-old, who has proven a crucial player for the Welsh outfit this season.
Indeed, the England U21 international only missed six of the Swans’ 46 games en route to the play-offs, starting all 40 of the fixtures he was included in the matchday squad for and is believed to be valued between £15-20m.
The likes of Crystal Palace and Southampton are believed to be keen and, while there was interest from The Magpies, St. James’ Park isn’t believed to be a likely destination.
Why won’t Newcastle sign Guehi?
Presumably, it comes down to money, as it so often seems to do under Mike Ashley.
The same publication revealed last week that Bruce was eyeing up free transfers and potential loans ahead of the summer window given the budget available to him is likely to be fairly low, so the idea of splashing £15m-£20m on a developing talent does seem somewhat far-fetched. After all, Nothing But Newcastle have been told the club hope to sign Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer relatively cheaply given the lack of transfer interest in a wantaway player coming towards the final year of his contract.
Would it be a mistake not to sign him?
In an ideal world, of course, Newcastle would be a likely destination for a promising young defender.
According to WhoScored data, Guehi averages 1.7 tackles, 1.6 interceptions and 3.2 aerial duels per game this season, which would see him rank first out of the central defenders in the Newcastle squad this season, albeit with the obvious caveat that he’s been playing in a lower division. Still, those sort of averages point to a solid defender already making a decent impact in a notoriously tough division, helping form a defence that only conceded more goals than the promoted Norwich City and Watford.
