"High on their list": Arsenal now interested in signing 24yo star, £40m deal could be finalised - report
Arsenal were recently interested in signing Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth, but the centre-back chose to join Real Madrid instead.
The Gunners could pursue an alternative during the summer transfer window, and The Athletic have now provided an update on this.
They report that Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is ‘high on their list’. The 24-year-old could be an affordable buy with a year left on his contract.
However, it is unclear whether the Englishman would be prepared to join Arsenal for a reduced role, particularly with the World Cup next summer.
Arsenal could pursue a deal for Guehi
Jakub Kiwior stepped up with his performances during the final months of last season after an unfortunate hamstring injury for Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Poland international barely put a foot wrong for the London giants, and it was William Saliba who was prone to making multiple defensive errors.
Despite this, the Gunners were keen on landing Huijsen from the Cherries, which suggests that manager Mikel Arteta is open to signing another marquee centre-back.
Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta provided the Spaniard with assurances of playing time next season, but the 20-year-old preferred to join Los Blancos.
Guehi would be a good alternative to Huijsen. The Englishman has impressed from the left centre-back role for the Eagles since arriving from Chelsea a few years ago.
In the recent campaign, he won an impressive 59 percent of his duels with 4.6 clearances and 4.3 recoveries per league game. He made almost two tackles on average.
Guehi had a good passing accuracy of 84 percent and helped the Eagles to keep 11 clean sheets. He also played a big part in their FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City.
The 24-year-old has shown his strong leadership skills as Palace’s captain and would be a quality acquisition for the Gunners, particularly for a reported price of £40 million.
Newcastle United are also firm admirers of the central defender, having failed with multiple bids to sign him last summer. They could provide fierce competition to the Gunners.
The big question is whether Arsenal can persuade Guehi to accept limited playing time. He is unlikely to start every week with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes in the squad.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
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