Back in May, Newcastle were linked with Chelsea central defender Marc Guehi.
They were named among a host of potential Premier League suitors for the England Under-21 international.
Another of those were Crystal Palace, who look to have won the race to sign him.
The Athletic claim he’s close to signing a five-year deal at Selhurst Park under new Palace boss Patrick Vieira.
Vieira himself was linked with Newcastle back in June 2019, weeks before Steve Bruce was appointed.
The Frenchman appears to have lifted Palace’s recruitment policy, with another promising youngster in Michael Olise already signed as well.
Palace have made the change and look set for a shake-up, while Newcastle are plodding along under Bruce.
The report claims Palace stole a march for Guehi because they were willing to pay to buy him, rather than a loan with option to buy.
It’s not clear what the nature of Newcastle’s interest was, or whether they actually made an offer.
They were apparently not among the favourites to sign Guehi back in May and clearly didn’t do anything to get back into that particular race.
It’s not clear how much Palace have paid for Guehi but he was reportedly valued between £15 and £20 million.
That would have been beyond Newcastle’s budget if this Athletic report is accurate but Guehi has a big future and could be an England international one day.
His performances at Palace will tell us whether Newcastle will rue missing out on him or not.
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