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Tottenham and Crystal Palace both have busy summers ahead preparing for European football
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A centre-back is near the top of Tottenham Hotspur’s shopping list this transfer window after earning the lucrative bounty of Champions League qualification, so it was little surprise that they immediately entered the race for Marc Guehi.
Guehi only has a year left on his contract and appears highly unlikely to agree to an extension, so he also won’t cost Harry Maguire numbers for his next club. ‘Slabhead’ remains the most expensive defender in football history at £80m though both Guehi and Tottenham would hope for a better return on investment in keeping the former Chelsea player in London.
Meanwhile Palace are preparing for a summer transfer window that will be both aggressive and defensive. The vultures are circling and not just for Guehi - Adam Wharton, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta will also be targeted by Europe’s super-clubs while Oliver Glasner attempts to prepare for a continental tour. Meanwhile Tottenham’s Europa League and qualification for the biggest tournament in club football next season has somewhat papered over the cracks of a truly dreadful league campaign - Spurs’ worst since relegation in 1977.
So Ange Postecoglou has lots of work to do in the transfer window and he could start by offloading the misfiring but proven Richarlison in exchange for critical reinforcements at the back through Marc Guehi. Guehi is valued at £50m, the same initial fee Tottenham paid for Richarlison in 2022, and breaking even or making a small loss with cash to sweeten the deal to Palace wouldn’t be the worst outcome from a largely frustrating three years in London.
Marc Guehi has qualities to shine elevate Spurs
Tottenham are tied with West Ham for the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League outside of the relegated clubs, as Guglielmo Vicario has picked the ball out of his net 61 times this campaign. That’s eight more goals than Burnley conceded when they were relegated in 2022.
So defensive fortifications are a must this summer and Guehi is almost impermeable on the floor, has the mobility to dovetail well with Micky van de Ven and his technical abilities would improve Tottenham’s capacity to play out from the back. There shouldn’t be a worry about his ability to step up to a big six club either. Guehi had started just eight international games (all in friendlies, qualifiers or the Nations League) before he was promoted to a first-choice centre-back for Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024 in Maguire’s absence.
Yet the Eagle transitioned to the big stage seamlessly, forming an imposing partnership with John Stones that was crucial to England’s progression to the final - especially in those faltering group games. Guehi’s weakness in the air is potentially problematic - he’s in the bottom quarter of central defenders in Europe’s top five leagues for aerial duels lost - but Spurs have improved vastly at set-pieces since Postecoglou’s first season so this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker either.
Swap deal suits Crystal Palace ahead of European adventure
Less than a week on from Crystal Palace’s FA Cup victory and the rumour mill has kicked into overdrive around the Eagles as Glasner chases both quality and depth in the summer transfer window.
Lyon wide-man Rayan Cherki has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League amid a fire sale at Lyon, and a buyout clause of €22.5m (£19m) has attracted plenty of attention. Palace are interested, but a bidding war for his services could get pricey with Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool and more likely to offer lucrative wages to tempt Cherki.
Whether or not he lands the Frenchman, Glasner will need to recruit for vacancies he may not even know he’ll have by the end of the transfer with the status of Mateta, Eze and Wharton likely to stay in question right up until the start of September. So locking down a proven Premier League attacking threat would be a wise move in preparation for that summer bun fight and luckily Spurs have someone who fits the bill in Richarlison.
Despite his impressive strike rate for Brazil, Richarlison seems to thrive as a big fish in a small pond, and a move to Selhurst Park should re-energise the mercurial 28-year-old. Being a central cog in the system at Goodison Park paid off beautifully for both player and club, whereas Richarlison has struggled when his role was more defined follow his arrival at Tottenham.
And while this isn’t something that will show up on a stats sheet or Opta graph, being one of the main darlings of a passionate and adoring crowd (like he’d find at Selhurst Park) has appeared to inspire the best from Richarlison at Everton and Fluminense rather than just being one of a lineup of superstars in north London.
He’d also provide valuable versatility, able to fill in across a front three whatever happens to Glasner’s other superstars. Richarlison tallied 68 goal contributions in 152 games at Everton and 19 in 36 during his final season for the Tricolor, around one every other game. Yet that’s dropped to one in three for Tottenham - or the difference between 19 and 13 over the course of a Premier League season.
His main motivation for joining Tottenham was to play Champions League football, so it remains to be seen whether he wants a second bite at the cherry or whether he’d be satisfied staying in the Europa League next season. But if it came with the opportunity to regain his best form at such a pivotal form, that may be enough to tip the scales and do both Palace and Spurs a favour in the process.