Arsenal told they may need to pay £100m to sign England international Mikel Arteta loves
Crystal Palace centre-half Marc Guehi
Arsenal could be forced to pay up to £100m if they want to sign Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, it has been claimed.
The highly-rated defender has been on Mikel Arteta’s transfer shortlist for some time, but the Gunners fell short of making an offer for him this summer.
With new signing Jurrien Timber sidelined with a serious knee injury for several months, there is a good chance that Arsenal will look to bring in a new defender in January.
As previously reported by TEAMtalk, both Arteta and Arsenal director of football Edu have already ‘approved’ a move for Guehi, with an approach in January looking likely.
The 23-year-old is one of the first names on the team sheet for Crystal Palace. Last season, he made 37 Premier League appearances, helping the Eagles to 10 clean sheets and scoring one goal.
Guehi’s performances also earned him a call-up to the England national team in May last year. He made his sixth Three Lions appearance in a friendly against Scotland on Saturday.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise Arsenal are keen to bring him in. They may need to splash the cash to tempt Crystal Palace into a sale, however.
Guehi ‘could be worth £100m’ soon
According to transfer journalist Dean Jones, Guehi could be worth £100m when the transfer window re-opens in January.
That would be a steep rise from this summer’s window, when the defender was valued at £60m by Crystal Palace.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones said: “It’s an important step forward for him in his career. He needs that international pedigree to go alongside all the games that he’s managing to notch up in the Premier League.
“One of the big reasons that Palace already valued him over £60million was because they see him as a future England international. Because of his age, they feel like this is a guy that could eventually be worth £100million given the way that the transfer market is going right now.
“His price tag has already gone up, just off the back of this international break.”
It’s likely that Jones is spot on with his assessment. Guehi is under contract at Selhurst Park until 2026 and understandably, Roy Hodgson is very reluctant to sell him.
It would therefore require a monumental offer for Arsenal to prise him away from Crystal Palace. The Gunners have already made one £100m+ signing in Declan Rice this season, so it will be interesting to see if they are willing to do so again with Guehi in January.
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