Chelsea will reportedly be in line for a significant windfall if former defender Marc Guehi leaves Crystal Palace next year.
The 23-year-old joined the Chelsea academy in 2007 and progressed through the youth ranks to earn a first-team promotion in 2020, before being loaned out to Swansea City for 18 months.
Guehi made a name for himself in the second tier, helping Swansea City reach the playoffs in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, playing the full 90 in a 2-0 loss to Brentford in the latter final.
Prior to going out on loan to Wales, Guehi made his first two appearances for Chelsea's senior team in a pair of EFL Cup ties with Grimsby Town and Manchester United in 2019, but he did not feature for the club again after a 2-1 loss to the latter.
Following his success at Championship level, the centre-back was sold to Crystal Palace for £20.4m in the summer of 2021, and he has excelled in a two-man partnership with Joachim Andersen.
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Over the past two-and-a-bit seasons, Guehi has come up with five goals and one assist in 93 games in a Palace jersey, and he already has four Premier League clean sheets to his name this term.
Thanks to his solid displays at Selhurst Park, the Ivory Coast-born defender has become a regular member of Gareth Southgate's England squad and made his seventh appearance for the Three Lions in their Euro 2024 qualifying win over Italy earlier this month.
Guehi remains under contract at Crystal Palace until 2026, but a bidding war for his services is allegedly expected to materialise in 2024, with all of Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United credited with an interest.
That will be music to the ears of Chelsea, as the Evening Standard reports that Guehi's former club will pocket 20% of any transfer fee due to a sell-on clause in his Crystal Palace contract.
The report adds that the Eagles will hold out for a fee of at least £50m to let Guehi leave, and should they accept a bid of their minimum valuation, Chelsea's coffers will be boosted by £10m.
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Palace offloaded Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Man United in a £50m deal in 2019, and Roy Hodgson's side will apparently use that figure as a benchmark in any negotiations with suitors for Guehi.
However, given his contract situation, the Eagles have no need to panic sell in 2024, and they remain determined to keep hold of Guehi's services for the long-term.
Interested parties will likely be rebuffed if they try to approach Palace for a January deal, but the Eagles are braced for summer offers for the 23-year-old's signature.
Palace sit 13th in the Premier League table after 10 games of the new season and are next in action away to newly-promoted Burnley on Saturday lunchtime.
Ben Knapton
