Guehi will cost ‘superstar money’ – Palace chairman

With Newcastle bidding for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, Eagles chairman Steve Parish says it will take “superstar money” to buy him.

Crystal Palace and England defender Marc GuehiGetty Images

Any club wanting to sign Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi must pay “superstar money”, says the club’s co-owner and chairman Steve Parish.

Newcastle have made three offers for Guehi with the latest understood to be in the region of £60m.

Guehi was one of the standout performers for England at Euro 2024 and played six of the seven games in the competition, only missing the quarter-final through suspension.

The 24-year-old has been tracked by clubs across Europe since excelling for the Eagles after signing in 2021, and has under two years left on his contract.

“We’d like to keep hold of him. There’s a price and a situation where we might consider it,” Parish told BBC Sport.

“Somebody [in another interview] said he’s a superstar, so somebody has got to pay superstar money.

“Realistically, homegrown, 24 years old, sensational talent, somebody has to make it difficult for us. At the moment it isn’t. He’ll still be at Crystal Palace at the moment, but it’s not impossible.

“He is certainly not making anybody’s life difficult, his agents are decent people.

“It’s a very good situation. Whether he is here or not will make no difference to how he performs.”

‘No concrete interest in Eze’

Parish spoke about several other Palace players, including Fulham’s second offer for Guehi’s central defensive partner Joachim Andersen, believed to be £25m plus £5m in add-ons.

Palace rejected Fulham’s first bid of £20m on Monday, and value the Denmark international at closer to £40m.

“That’s an interesting one because I can’t imagine a situation where we would lose both of our centre-halves,” Parish said.

“Again, Joachim, he’s a special lad and very much at the heart of what we do. He’s like our quarterback at the heart of that back three, a sensational footballer.

“We have got to sit and think about what is the right thing to do, what the players want to do. If both of them are still here at the end of the window I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The Eagles have already sold star player Michael Olise to Bayern Munich for £50m and are braced for interest in England international Eberechi Eze.

Eze was of interest to champions Manchester City last season but they signed Matheus Nunes instead. Parish says there has not been any “concrete interest” in the forward this transfer window.

“Everyone is in a trading deficit in the Premier League. If you want constancy, you have to first of all attract the right talent and part of that is showing them a pathway.

“Players like Michael [Olise] going to Bayern and going to the top clubs in the world shows people that coming to Crystal Palace you can get picked for your country, you can go and play at the highest level.

“What do we hope? One day we are the Champions League club that everybody wants to come to, we’re the Europa League club that everybody wants to come to.

“Up until then we have to be realistic. We have to work with the players, work with the sporting department, we have to make sure we have a good squad and we are making smart decisions about recruitment – buying and selling.”