Fair point, but Guehi is getting in squads and/or a little run out against weak teams at the moment in the same way many young, eligible players do. AWB and Mitchell did, along with all sorts over the years, and most of them do not kick on to the next level.

Guehi, like many before him, is getting some England recognition because he has a bit of promise and potential, not because he is already a top-class player.

He may never get much better than he is now, but the potential is attractive and therefore expensive. Those few England caps now might make this the best time to cash out, in much the same way we did with AWB, before the player has a chance to plateau.

Do United still think £50m was money well spent for AWB? Is he a better player now than he was when they bought him, or was he actually close to his 'finished' level from the outset? Would we have got anything like that money for him 18 months later? I doubt it. Perhaps Guehi is the same. There is a gamble either way of course because he might go on to get 100 England caps and be brilliant, but there is also a gamble in keeping him - his value may never be so high again.

Aside from the significance of England caps, another issue is whether Guehi is getting caps where Dann, Tompkins, etc did not because is a better defender than our old guard, or simply a better footballer.

For 95% of their games, England need defenders to move the ball quickly and with quality so they can break down stubborn but inferior opponents. Palace, by contrast, need defenders to defend properly, and I'm really not convinced that Guehi (or Andersen for that matter) can.

I'm not in favour of Palace selling anyone and have always been concerned about the 'buy young, develop and sell' model, but if I had to choose one or two to sell in order to reinvest then both centre-backs would be my choice.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (23 Jun 2023 2.48pm)

Guehi's selections against the weaker teams are a rites of passage as you say. But it also gives the England manager to get a better idea of him off of the pitch as well as on it. I've seen nothing but positive feedback on him, and I expect him to continue to make the squads and develop into a potential starter in more meaningful games ( as opposed to the 31 year old Dunk suddenly being selected after years in the wilderness, or Falmer as it is properly known ).

A bit like Zaha before him, AWB joined United at a bad time. Only in the last few months has he shown the form that triggered the £50m fee. Under Ten Haag i think he now has a chance to improve his game. We shall see.

If Palace need the money to generate transfer funds, then yes, selling one of the centre backs is certainly more palatable than cashing in on Eze or Olise. Of the two, Guehi would command the far higher fee but I think Andersen is more easily replaced out of the two. I would not sell both in the same window obviously !

Edited by NEILLO (28 Jun 2023 12.22pm)

Edited by NEILLO (28 Jun 2023 12.23pm)

The only argument I'd make against it is if we did sell Marc, it'd be a huge fee plus we could bring in a bit more of a commanding, warrior type CB to partner Andersen (which is something Marc is not,

Is Claude still playing?

Is Claude still playing?