Newcastle have been handed a potential blow in their pursuit of Marc Guehi after The Athletic reported Fulham have agreed a deal with Crystal Palace for defender Joachim Andersen.
It’s been a quiet summer for the Magpies, who are yet to really get going in the transfer market and they have so far signed Lloyd Kelly, John Ruddy, William Osula and Odysseas Vlachodimos.
The club have identified Palace star Guehi as their main target but have so far been unable to reach an agreement with the Eagles and have had multiple bids rejected for the England international.
Newcastle handed Guehi blow
However, the Magpies have been handed a potential blow in their pursuit after The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported that Fulham had reached an agreement in principle with Palace for centre back Andersen.
Ornstein took to X.com and said:
“EXCL: Fulham have tonight reached agreement in principle with Crystal Palace to sign Joachim Andersen. Compromise found on fee ~£30m including add-ons. All parties working to finalise deal for 28yo Denmark defender to join #FFC from #CPFC @TheAthleticFC.”
? EXCL: Fulham have tonight reached agreement in principle with Crystal Palace to sign Joachim Andersen. Compromise found on fee ~£30m including add-ons. All parties working to finalise deal for 28yo Denmark defender to join #FFC from #CPFC @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/rjXZG3uhNE
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 20, 2024
Andersen, who arrived from French side Lyon in the summer of 2021 started all 38 Premier League games last season and is a key player in the Palace backline.
The Denmark international has made 112 appearances for the Eagles, scoring three goals but is now seemingly set to make the switch across London.
Whilst this doesn’t mean that Guehi won’t leave it would appear very unlikely that Palace would sell their centre back pairing of last season in the same window.
Newcastle may try again in their pursuit of the 24-year-old but it looks like despite weeks of negotiations they may have to quickly focus their attention elsewhere as they face a race against the clock to find alternative targets and complete a deal before the end of the window.
I would ask why didn’t Khan pay the money for Anderson when he was on loan with Fulham previously?. Now perhaps they can sell Bassey and buy Chalobah from Chelsea and thus create a strong defence, something that has been missing for years.