Newcastle United were pushing hard to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace, as the Magpies viewed the proven Premier League and England national team starter as the ideal central defensive signing this summer.
Guehi has been one of the top center backs in the Premier League for the last three seasons, though his departure threatened to hurt Crystal Palace significantly because they had already lost the underrated Joachim Andersen to another Premier League side, Fulham.
Despite this, it looked like Palace were prepared to accept the Newcastle offer on the table for Guehi, because the Magpies were willing to offer around 70 million pounds in order to get their man.
In the end, Newcastle decided to walk away from the bargaining table, frustrated with the plodding nature of the negotiations. Crystal Palace wanted to sap every cent possible out of the Saudi-owned Premier League side, largely out of a reluctance to sell a center back they rate so highly.
At the age of 24, Guehi is indeed a special player and is so good that even after Sven Botman’s return, he would have been a projected starter next to Swiss veteran Fabian Schar.
Now that Guehi is ostensibly off the table, Newcastle have to look for another option at the center back position, but, unfortunately for them, it looks like their deal backup plan is no longer a topic of conversation either.
That’s because, per RMC Sport, RB Leipzig center back (and right back) Mohamed Simakan has agreed to personal terms with Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr and will soon have a medical with the club of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane.
RB Leipzig and Al-Nassr had already agreed to a 45 million euro transfer, so barring Saudi Arabian intervention to kick Simakan to Newcastle after the Guehi fallout – which technically isn’t impossible – it looks like the Magpies will have to go back to the drawing board.
Simakan is also only 24 years old, established as a star player in European football for several seasons, and is just as good as Guehi despite receiving less of a spotlight in the German league.
Now, it is unclear how Newcastle will proceed, though, at least they did make a significant signing at center back earlier this summer, inking Bournemouth starter Lloyd Kelly for free.
However, Newcastle missed out on another free agent, Tosin Adarabioyo, who made the move from Fulham to Chelsea this summer instead. Newcastle have always wanted to sign two quality center backs, and they have just lost out on two of the best young defenders on the market.
It’s been a tough summer for the Magpies, who also failed to sell right winger Miguel Almiron, as they needed to clear him out in order to sign an upgrade to help darkhorse Premier League Player of the Season candidates Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak out.
At least Newcastle haven’t lost anyone significant. There were rumors linking Gordon, Isak, and Bruno Guimaraes – their three best players – with moves away from St. James’s Park, but none of those stars players will be leaving this summer as Newcastle push to return to the Champions League in 2025.
