Marc Guehi - Signs £65m Newcastle move is edging closer despite Crystal Palace return?

On Monday night, Newcastle United fans were sent into a summer transfer window frenzy as The Telegraph reported that Marc Guehi was 'closing in' on a move to St James' Park.

48 hours later, things have gone a little quiet and *some fans were concerned to see Palace's social media accounts confirming he's arrived back for training today alongside fellow England star Eberechi Eze. However, there's a few key reasons why we shouldn't panic as we wait patiently for a positive update on his potential arrival.

First of all, this would be almost certainly be a club-record signing that surpasses the £63m spent on Alexander Isak. This is massive money between two huge businesses and the finer details of the deal - whether it's the fee or structure of payments - will take time to be completely agreed. On top of that, a positive update has arrived today from The Mail's chief reporter Sami Mokbel, who writes: 'Progress has been made on his protracted move to St James’ Park amid hope a breakthrough can be found by the start of next week.'

Secondly, we have some comfort in knowing that Guehi wants the move, with almost every outlet who've covered the story insisting that he's eager to join this ambitious project at Newcastle. The Telegraph said he's asked his agent to get it done, The Guardian say he's 'extremely keen' to join and Sky Sports' Keith Downie has reported similar, adding that personal terms won't be a problem if a fee can be agreed.

Next up we have a flurry of reports today revealing that Crystal Palace are stepping up their efforts to sign a right-footed centre-back; a pretty telling sign when they've already brought in £14m Chadi Riad from Real Betis this summer. The Telegraph's Matt Law, French outlet L'Equipe and Jacque Talbot at Football Transfers report that Wolfsburg's Maxence Lacroix has emerge as a target for new boss Oliver Glasner, with The Telegraph also revealing that Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah is another target.

None of the above guarantees that he'll sign, but any panic or sensationalised articles over a picture of him at Palace's training ground today is unnecessary when it's literally a man turning up for work; which is exactly what you'd expect until a deal between Newcastle and Palace is completely agreed.

He's out of contract in two years and reports say he will not be signing an extension, meaning Palace will never have a better chance to sell after his value increased following a superb Euro 2024.

It's not done until it's done, but all of the above gives me encouragement it remains on track, despite a quiet few days following Luke Edwards' big exclusive on Monday.

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