Newcastle have opened talks with 24-year-old England international - Huge news for Magpies

With the transfer of youngster Will Osula close to being completed, Newcastle United could follow it up with a massive summer signing.

Newcastle have been frustratingly quiet in the transfer market this summer, but now look to pull off one of their classic bait and switch moves.

As fans have been keeping an eye on the Malick Thiaw situation, the club seem to have been going in a different direction while we've all been distracted.

Similar to how the Sandro Tonali deal worked last summer - we were all looking at Nicolo Barella while they were working on Tonali, now it looks like Newcastle have used Malick Thiaw as the smokescreen while making a move for Crystal Palace and England centre-back Marc Guehi.

Newcastle have opened talks over a move for Marc Guehi

The often reliable David Ornstein has broken the news via X and The Athletic and claims that the Magpies are the first club to open talks over the 24-year-old.

Newcastle are by far the only club interested in Guehi which is unsurprising given his form for Palace and England, especially his performances at Euro 2024.

The deal is miles away from completion and Newcastle could still miss out, but the fact that we've jumped to the head of the queue and actually stand a chance at one of England's best players is exactly the kind of news we've been craving all summer.

This is a signing that will get Newcastle fans excited

Should a deal be made it's unlikely to be cheap. In fact we expect it will cost way more to land Guehi than it would paying full price for Thiaw, but Guehi comes with English Tax as well as Premier League experience, so we'd expect to pay a premium.

We doubt this is the end of the Thiaw discussions, especially as the Guehi deal is far from a given at this point, but finally, the Toon Army has something to get excited about.

Marc Guehi and Sven Botman, both 24-years-old could form a partnership that could last for years and improve over time for much of that spell. Let's do this!