Tottenham make their move in bid to beat Liverpool to £50m summer transfer for Marc Guehi

Liverpool are on the search for a new centre-back and have been targeting a young defender to replace Jarrell Quansah, who has joined Bayer Leverkusen, but are keen on England centre-back Marc Guehi if the price is right – but now Spurs are making their move

Liverpool will face competition from Tottenham if they decide to pursue a move for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. The Reds are expected to keep spending as Hugo Ekitike jets in for a medical on Tuesday to complete a £79m move from Eintracht Frankfurt.

And a defender could be next on the list with Palace defender Guehi admired at Anfield. But Spurs have now registered their interest and can also offer the England international Champions League football this season after their Europa League success.

Guehi, 25, has just one year left on his contract at Palace but it is not known if the defender wants to move on. Spurs tried to sign him in January but a late £70m bid was rejected by the Eagles.

Liverpool are monitoring the situation after selling Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen for £35m this summer. But they’ll only move for Guehi if the price is right and that’s less than the £50m it’s been suggested the Eagles would take this summer for their captain.

Spurs might be more inclined to hit the £50m mark having struggled so much defensively last season when Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven struggled with injuries.

READ MORE: Luis Diaz ‘determined’ to leave Liverpool as Bayern Munich launch second transfer bidREAD MORE: Man Utd to take £200m hit as Ruben Amorim sends brutal message to out-of-favour stars

Liverpool are close to spending £300m with Ekitike coming in and another forward is also on the list if Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz both leave. They do not want to sell Diaz despite Bayern Munich preparing a second bid for the Colombia winger but are more open to do a deal for Nunez.

Ekitike, 23, is landing in Merseyside today the Reds will pay £69m initially with a further £10m due in add ons, with the added fees down to club and player performance across the length of his contract.

Liverpool are looking to agree a six-year contract with the player to keep him at Anfield until 2031. Those details are yet to be finalised but they will be once the France U21 international arrives on Merseyside.

Liverpool players and staff have headed for the Far East to continue their pre-season preparations with Hong Kong their first stop. But medical staff and sporting director Richard Hughes will remain at the club’s training ground to finalise Ekitike’s move.

The player will fly to Asia once the deal is complete to meet up with his new team-mates.

Newcastle pulled out of the race for Ekitike last week once the player informed them he had a preference to move to Liverpool. The Magpies had a £70m offer rejected but they were short on the add-ons which Frankfurt pushed for.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.