Manchester United have set their sights on Marc Guehi amid fears over impending lack of depth as Harry Maguire edges closer to joining West Ham.
Ahead of the Hammers’ Premier League opener, David Moyes confirmed United have accepted his side’s bid for the Englishman. Meanwhile, Eric Bailly is also on his way out, having principally agreed to move to Besiktas.
Should both deals be finalized as planned in the coming days, Erik ten Hag will be left with just Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, and Victor Lindelof as his centre-back options.
It’s reported by the Daily Mail that the Dutch coach is “mulling a number of backline options” ahead of the new season. Edmond Tapsoba, Jean Clair Todibo, Benjamin Pavard, and Marc Guehi are understood to be on United’s radar.
The Crystal Palace centre-back has long been touted to replace Maguire in the England setup under Gareth Southgate, and now he might end up doing that at Old Trafford.
Guehi is predominantly right-footed but frequently covers the left side of Palace’s defence, akin to Maguire under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
It won’t be easy to pry the former Chelsea man away from Palace, who only swapped London clubs two seasons ago. Liverpool were linked with Guehi earlier this summer, and at the time it was reported Palace were looking for bids in excess of £60m for the 23-year-old centre-back.
Guehi has shown incredible consistency in South London and has the potential to become a top defender, but at £60m he’s too expensive a bet for United, especially considering both Martinez and Varane are going to be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Further, United are also exploring the option to hand Jonny Evans a one-year deal to boost their defensive numbers.
