Tottenham Hotspur are showing a lot of interest in the Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi ahead of the summer transfer window.
What’s the latest?
Spurs ended the January transfer window having brought in two new faces with one of them being a defensive addition in Pedro Porro.
However, there were no new centre-backs coming through the doors at Hotspur Way over the course of the month despite the club’s dismal defensive record.
But it is apparent the Lilywhites do have centre-backs on their radar with the Palace defender believed to be a player of significant interest from the north London club.
Speaking on his latest YouTube video, journalist Alasdair Gold has suggested Spurs are huge admirers of Guehi but he would have proven too expensive to sign in the January window:
“I know they’re also huge admirers of Marc Guehi at Palace.
“None of those four players [Bastoni, Hincapie, Gvardiol & Guehi] I’ve just mentioned were available in the January window.
“And also, Marc Guehi – it’d be interesting. An England international is going to be worth a big amount of money. There’ll be competition for him if there’s any display that Palace might be or hint that Palace might be willing to sell him.”
Room for improvement
Aforementioned, Tottenham’s issues in defence have been there for all to see this season with the Lilywhites holding one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League.
Prior to the January window, Spurs boss Anotnio Conte spoke to the media and suggested a new centre-back was not a priority for the winter market and he was satisfied with his options:
“With central defenders we are good, we have to continue to work,” he said after the draw against Brentford.
However, it is hard to truly believe these comments when his side has conceded 20 more goals than their top-four rivals Newcastle United already this season.
In comparison to Eric Dier, Guehi has provided Palace with more tackles per 90 minutes as well as more blocks and clearances (via FBref).
Given how many goals have been conceded so far this season, for a centre-back (Dier) to have an average of fewer than one tackle per 90 minutes does not make for good reading.
There is a belief that Spurs will be eyeing two new centre-backs in the summer – one reportedly high on the list being Alessandro Bastoni. However, we do wonder whether they could have stretched to bring in one over the course of last month.
It would likely have been more expensive and extremely difficult, but it could have potentially made a big impact on the remainder of their season given just how poor their defence has been this far.
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