'Seed of doubt': Craig Hope believes Newcastle United's interest in Marc Guehi may be waning due to missing ingredient

Last summer, Newcastle United fans waited for weeks and weeks for the Magpies to finally announce the signing of Crystal Palace and England centre-back Marc Guehi.

As the saga rumbled on, we got told it was close and things would be happening soon more times than we care to count, only for Palace to pull the rug the night before the transfer deadline.

Steve Parish never had any intentions of selling Guehi, and while reports suggested Newcastle were willing to go up to £70 million to land the only player Eddie Howe truly wanted, the deal was never going to happen.

Cut to present day, and Guehi is entering the final year of his Crystal Palace contract, flipping the script and putting Newcastle in control of the negotiations should they wish to try again for the 24-year-old.

Craig Hope believes Marc Guehi's lack of aggression could put Newcastle off making a bid

Several reports have suggested that Newcastle will go in for Marc Guehi again, however, Craig Hope doesn't seem to believe that the interest is as strong as it once was.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hope maintains that Newcastle have an interest in Guehi, but it's waning slightly, and he believes he knows what Guehi is missing that's giving the Magpies second thoughts.

“Yes, they do like him. If there was a deal to be done there at a reasonable price, I think they probably would.

“But the more they watch Guehi and look at Guehi, there is that little seed of doubt there.I know why. I’ve watched him for England. I think he’s very good, and under Eddie Howe would improve. Every player does. Guehi has got the potential. I still think he’s missing that bit of aggression you need as a centre-back.”

We can't imagine these seeds of doubt will stop Newcastle from trying to sign Guehi

For us, it has always been about the price. We know Guehi has limitations, but as Hope himself says, he will improve under Eddie Howe. Plus, he's only 24; he's still a pup in defensive years.

We know not all of our fans are convinced by Guehi either - I imagine that NUFC Feed's regular commenter, CockneyTrev is seething as he reads this (we may not always reply, but we always read, Trev), given his particular dislike of the Palace man.

However, if Newcastle can negotiate a reasonable fee, I do believe that Guehi will turn out to be a quality signing for the Magpies after a bit of guidance from Eddie Howe.