Man Utd seething as Liverpool plan to destroy Ashworth’s £60m dream; Chelsea also pose threat

Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea linked Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi

Liverpool are reportedly ready to compete with Manchester United for the signature of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi at the end of the season.

The two Premier League giants have made signing a new centre-back their priority for the summer transfer window and have their eye on similar targets.

Lille’s Leny Yoro, Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Atalanta’s Giorgio Scalvini are among those targeted by both clubs.

Now, according to The Telegraph, Liverpool are ready to battle Man Utd for Guehi, who is considered to be one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

The 23-year-old joined Crystal Palace from Chelsea in 2021 and has become one of their most important players, making 108 appearances to date.

Guehi’s good form earned him his first England cap in March 2022. His status as a homegrown player also makes him more appealing to Premier League sides.

Crystal Palace certainly won’t let their star defender leave on the cheap, however, and have reportedly slapped a £60m price tag on his head.

Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea all in Guehi race

As per The Telegraph’s report, new Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is focused on keeping the Eagles in the Premier League but also on retaining his best players.

Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Guehi are all being eyed by several top sides who will likely submit offers for them in the summer.

Liverpool are now ‘looking at signing Guehi ahead of Man Utd.’ They are keen to bring in a long-term successor for Joel Matip, who has struggled with injuries this season.

There is also speculation regarding the future of Virgil van Dijk, although Liverpool are growing in confidence that they’ll be able to tie him down to a new contract.

It seems likely that they will test Palace’s resolve with a bid for Guehi, who is ‘already on their list of targets.’

As for Man Utd, their soon-to-be new sporting director Dan Ashworth is ‘known to be a fan’ of Guehi’s and ‘was interested’ in bringing him to Newcastle.

The Red Devil’s interest in the centre-back will therefore ‘ramp up’ should Ashworth join them, as expected.

Chelsea are also in the picture, however, as they have ‘a matching option they can leverage should they want to enter the race to sign him’ as well as a sell-on clause.

There is not ‘a straight buy-back agreement’ between Palace and the Blues, who ‘are likely to be in the market for a central defender this summer with Thiago Silva set to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season’.

With that in mind, it looks like we could see a bidding war take place for Guehi at the end of the season.

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