Player ‘counting the hours’ to leave Crystal Palace – Expectation exit will happen

Spanish newspaper AS report Vicente Guaita is ‘counting the hours to leave Great Britain and return to Spain’

The goalkeeper has been linked with an exit in pretty much every transfer window since he joined the Eagles, with a desire to return to Spain behind it all.

This time, Guatia is said to have all the details of a contract with Celta Vigo agreed and wants the move to happen quickly. However, he’s still trying to finalise a contract termination with Crystal Palace.

AS say that after ‘several days’ of negotiation to try and sort that out, the operation is now close to being finalised. There’s an expectation it can all be sorted out on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Previous reports in Spain have made it clear Celta Vigo haven’t been keen on paying a transfer fee, hence the work for a termination, and only want to offer a short term contract on relatively low wages.

What Crystal Palace make of all this remains to be seen, but it’s not the first time it’s been reported in Spain that a Guaita exit is on the verge of happening.

Arsenal have now been provided with a new update on their pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi by transfer insider Dean Jones.

What’s the latest Arsenal transfer news?

The Gunners are searching for a new centre-back, in light of Jurrien Timber’s recent injury blow, and they have now set their sights on Galatasaray’s Victor Nelsson, who has a release clause of just €25m (£21m) included in his contract.

Journalist Rudy Galetti has made it clear that a number of options are being considered, with four targets currently on the shortlist, however Mikel Arteta may be forced to reduce it to three, as Barcelona are unwilling to sell Erik Garcia.

The La Liga club are unwilling to sanction a loan move this close to the end of the summer transfer window, so Arteta may have to turn his attentions elsewhere, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba previously being named as a potential option.

However, the German club have made it clear that Tapsoba will not be available on the cheap, with Football Insider reporting they are set to hold out for a fee of £50m, which has proven to be “prohibitive” for north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Another one of Arsenal’s more expensive centre-back targets is Guehi, with Jones recently telling GiveMeSport that Palace’s asking price may increase at this stage of the window, considering they would not have much time to bring in a replacement.

The transfer insider said: “The Marc Guehi interest has been there for a while. I don’t know that it necessarily would combine well with any interest from Takehiro Tomiyasu from Palace because Palace have no intention to lose Guehi and value him very, very highly.

“Earlier in the window I was being told of a £60m valuation on him and to be honest at this stage of the window it has probably risen. Guehi himself would even have reservations about how he fits in with Gabriel, William Saliba, Ben White and Jurrien Timber over the course of the season because he definitely needs regular game time to get into the England squad and won’t want to be fighting for his spot on a weekly basis, even at a big club like that.”

How tall is Marc Guehi?

The Palace star is not the tallest of centre-backs, standing at 6 foot, however he has been very effective for Palace over the past two seasons, with his performances earning him an England call-up, featuring for the Three Lions against Malta in the summer.

Lauded as “incredible” by members of the media, the former Swansea City man particularly specialises in tackling, with no player aged 21 or under averaging a better tackle success rate in England’s top two tiers during the 2020-21 season.

Having now proven himself in the top flight, the 22-year-old could now be ready to make the step-up to a club the size of Arsenal, but it does not seem like a move that is likely to happen before the deadline.