Having qualified for the Champions League and with money ready to spend, we came into the summer in a very strong position and hoping for early signings after Eddie Howe’s plea to act quickly in the market.
Instead, it’s been almost three weeks of slow progress and a number of reported targets signing elsewhere.
Having already missed out on Liam Delap to Chelsea, and with Bryan Mbeumo looking set to join Manchester United or Spurs, the bad news looks set to continue as Liverpool prepare to move for one of our top defensive targets.
According to The Telegraph, Liverpool are now leading the race to sign Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi this summer, with a major bid now imminent.
With Jarrel Quansah looking set to depart, this looks to given Arne Slot’s side the funds to submit a “significant offer” for the England star, who only has a year left on his current contract.
Whilst there’s no specific figure listed at the current moment in time, writers Sam Wallace and Chris Bascombe comment that “Palace have always been confident that Guéhi would fetch a major fee with just one year left on his deal and their projection appears to be right.”
Spurs previously offered £55m plus add-ons back in January, which the Eagles rejected. Now they’ve won the FA Cup, just what fee has it taken to start negotiations?
Guehi was notably subject to a summer-long pursuit by our recruitment team, which collapsed after numerous bids were rejected by Palace Chairman Steve Parish.
It was a true low point in what was a disastrous window last season, and the club will be keen to avoid a repeat.
Should Guehi make the switch from Selhurst Park to Anfield, then he’ll be just the latest defensive target that we look to set to miss out.
Earlier in the window we obviously saw Dean Huijsen make the move from Bournemouth to Real Madrid, and his teammate Illia Zabarnyi looks increasingly likely to be on his way to PSG.
The aforementioned Quansah was also a rumoured target, and Guehi’s potential departure could open the door for Oliver Glasner’s side to swoop in and sign Sporting’s Ousmane Diomandé: another defender we’ve previously scouted, according to The Telegraph.
Options will obviously keep cropping up in the Premier League and abroad: Fikayo Tomori from an AC Milan side who need to make some serious outgoings is one option, and one of Leverkusen’s defensive duo Piero Hincapié and Edmond Tapsoba would be a welcome option if Quansah displaces them in the starting XI.
So alarm bells shouldn’t be ringing just yet, as we’re still in relatively early days in the window. But questions will only begin to pile up if the club don’t start showing serious signs of intent in the transfer market within the next few weeks.
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