Manchester United to break record fee to sign Palace special star

Crystal Palace eye £100m centre-half  as Manchester United monitor England international Marc Guehi

Manchester United are interested in signing England international Mark Guehi on a long-term deal.

There was one moment in Crystal Palace’s 3-2 victory over Wolves just before the break that showed exactly why Marc Guehi is a centre-half on Man Utd’s radar as they look to sign a big-money defensive player in the summer. Guehi took the ball at the edge of the penalty area and burst into the middle of the park, moving Palace up the field and from defence to attack in no time. Any centre-half on an Erik ten hag team is expected to be just as good at starting attacks as they are at stopping them, so it’s no surprise that United’s scouts have been keeping an eye on Guehi. According to The Daily Mail, Man Utd are keeping a close watch on Guehi, a former Chelsea prospect, as they look to add a new centre-half to their squad in the wake of the injury-plagued trio that are all set to leave the club after the current season. Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans are both out of contract this summer, while Raphael Varane has an uncertain future.

However, having forced his way into the Three Lions’ re-building ahead of Euro 2024 and buoyed by the mega-million pound sales of fellow English players, Guehi could be the next homegrown talent to hit the £100 million mark in a future window, according to a source at Crystal Palace. “One of the reasons he’s already been valued at over £60m by Palace is because they view him as a potential England international in the future,” says Palace reporter Dean Jones. “And because of his age, Palace believe he could eventually go all the way to £100m, given the current transfer market. His price has already gone up following this international break.”

Guehi, too, is a leader. He was a key player at Crystal Palace last season, taking on the captaincy on a number of occasions. Maguire was stripped of his United jersey by Ten Hag recently, after the highly-rated defender rejected a summer move to West Ham.