Chelsea are interested in re-signing Marc Guehi three-and-a-half years after the England international left Stamford Bridge to join Crystal Palace, where he’s excelled
Chelsea’s plan to re-sign defender Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace has hit a snag.
Guehi, 24, has emerged as a January target for the Blues amid their defensive injury woes. The England international spent 14 years at the club as a youngster, making two senior appearances before a star-making loan spell with Swansea City in the Championship.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is already without centre-back duo Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile, with 18-year-old Josh Acheampong making his first Premier League start on Saturday. In light of the situation and Guehi’s rising stock, the Blues are keen to engineer a swap deal involving Trevoh Chalobah, who’s already on loan at Palace.
But according to the Mail, the move could stall over Chalobah’s wages. The 25-year-old earns a reported £80,000 per week at Stamford Bridge and although Palace could afford to pay the same salary in theory, they’re wary of Chalobah demanding a pay rise when moving clubs.
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Palace are open to signing Chalobah permanently but would prefer if the deal didn’t involve Guehi. Chelsea may now be forced to pursue a deal without using Chalobah as a makeweight to drive the Eagles’ asking price down.
Guehi was valued at £70m in the summer transfer window when Newcastle made four bids, desperate to get their hands on him following an excellent Euro 2024 campaign with England. Another option for Chelsea would be to recall Chalobah from his season-long loan, although Palace boss Oliver Glasner wouldn’t be pleased.
Glasner pointed out that league debutant Acheampong isn’t the only option at Maresca’s disposal as well as the fact Chelsea have recalled centre-back Aaron Anselmino from his loan at Boca Juniors. “I could see that there was (Axel) Disasi and Tosin (Adarabioyo) on the bench,” Glanser said after the teams’ 1-1 draw on Saturday. “I don’t know if you need (more) if you play with two.
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“I was just reading that Anselmino comes back so they have five (centre-backs). I don’t know if they need eight, I don’t know what they are planning. Trevoh is doing very well for us and we are planning with him.”
On Geuhi’s future, Glasner said: “I think [he will stay]. No player from our squad came to me and said [they] want to leave. No one. No one that played all the games, all the minutes, like Marc, and no one from the players who didn’t play so many minutes. This is the most relevant part: what the player tells me.”
Maresca was asked about Chalobah’s situation ahead of Saturday’s third-round FA Cup tie at home to League Two side Morecambe, to which the Chelsea boss replied: “Trev we know him, he’s a good player. At the moment he is a Crystal Palace player, so we will see.”
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