Defensive crisis will not force Newcastle United into mix for in-demand £70m star
Eddie Howe is struggling to cobble together a cohesive defensive line at Newcastle United at the moment, relying on midfielder Lewis Hall to make up his back-four, and over-relying on new signing Malick Thiaw.
Thiaw was thrown into the starting lineup to cover for Fabian Schar when the Swiss star picked up a concussion earlier in the season, and the German hasn't relinquished his place since.
Other than a terrible 45 minutes against Leeds United, Thiaw has been rock solid, but he has now played 28 games in a row, and those games have been coming thick and fast, not to mention that they have often been running deep into stoppage time and indeed extra time on Saturday.
With no other available options, though, Thiaw is going to have to keep powering on unless Newcastle dips into the transfer market.
Newcastle's interest in Marc Guehi is officially over
Eddie Howe has hinted that the club could look to the transfer market this month to help them out of a bind, but The Chronicle have reported that there's one player who has been heavily linked with Newcastle in the past who isn't on the shortlist.
Crystal Palace have managed to retain the services of Marc Guehi far longer than anyone expected. Newcastle thought they were close to agreeing a deal with Palace for Guehi for around £70 million in 2024, only for the deal to collapse late in the window.
In 2025, it was Liverpool's turn to see their transfer hopes crumble at the 11th hour. But with Guehi's contract ticking down, it's expected that £35 million would now be enough to pry the England star away from Selhurst Park.
Bayern Munich have made a big offer to Marc Guehi
Regardless of his 50% reduction, Newcastle have no further interest in Guehi and won't be one of the clubs that could potentially try to sign the 25-year-old this month.
Manchester City and Arsenal are thought to be keen, but Bayern Munich are said to have offered him a lucrative deal to move to Germany.
It seems that Newcastle feel they've been burned too many times by Guehi and have lost all interest.
