Potential £70m transfer for Newcastle United could all come down to one current player - journalist

Newcastle United are expected to be active in the January transfer window after failing to bring in any actual improvements to the first team in the summer.

The Magpies spent all their time and effort chasing Crystal Palace around asking for Marc Guehi with bids rising to as high as £70 million before Palace pulled the plug.

It's now a coin toss as to whether Newcastle will return in January with another attempt to lure Marc Guehi away from Palace.

Many Newcastle fans are adamant we should just leave it alone feeling he was never worth what Palace were asking, and after the way they handled things, they'd prefer we didn't deal with them again. Which is understandable. (We're looking at you here, CockneyTrev)

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Sven Botman's return will heavily affect Newcastle's decision to go back for Marc Guehi

While fans have seemingly made up their mind, the media aren't so sure that the club has and several outlets are reporting that Newcastle remain interested.

Now The Mirror's Simon Bird (h/t The Boot Room) has said that he expects Newcastle's stance on Guehi will depend massively on Sven Botman.

"There are suggestions that Newcastle could resurrect the Marc Guehi deal. However, a lot of that depends on how Sven Botman comes back to fitness.

“He is due back from his big injury in early December and if Botman hits the ground running and becomes the player he was again he’s huge to the team. He’s a fantastic defender so that could relieve the pressure on signing a defender.”

Can we have a right winger with that Marc Guehi money, please?

What Bird says aligns with what we've been saying recently. A defender should no long be as big of a priority in January as long as Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles return from their respective ACL injuries on time.

A right-winger and potentially another striker are far more pressing issues than a centre-back right now. We still need another centre-back to succeed Fabian Schar, but that can wait until the summer.

We can probably wait until the summer for a striker too, if, and this is the biggest if in the history of ifs, Callum Wilson can get back to fitness and stay fit. Or at least Will Osula can show Eddie Howe he can be relied upon.

As for Marc Guehi - he wants a move to Liverpool anyway, and he's been horseradish this season so they can have him.