I'm glad you aren't a scout.

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)

I think AWB and Mitchell were called into one squad each, and in Mitchell's case there was very limited competition in his position - Guehi has made it into 4 or 5 in a row in a very competitive position, so I don't think it's the best comparison.

Those two were barely recognised at youth level internationally, Guehi has played and captained at nearly every stage, including the U17 team who won the Euros.

I actually broadly agree with your last paragraph - there's a valid question as to whether clubs in our position need defenders as progressive as Guehi and Andersen and whether the type of fee they can fetch would be better off applied to other positions, but that doesn't sway my mind on how good they are as players - Guehi is already, in my opinion, the best centre half I've seen at Palace.

I'd be exceptionally confident his career will not be comparable to players like Scott Dann and James Tomkins by the time he is done - I'd argue it's already not.

Would love to see Palace play a back 3 it would give another spot for Richards who could also be a very good player. Andersen would be perfect as the ball playing centre back which he could do very well. Palace could do well in a 3-4-3

Johnstone, Guehi, Andersen, Richards, Mitchell, Doucoure, Lerma, Clyne, Eze, Edouard, Olise.

Would love to see new signings e.g Boey (RB) or Sarr/Gyokeres however it seems unlikely Palace will spend maybe look for some free transfers or loan players. If that is the case would be good to see players like Ozoh (good midifielder could do well in the future with Doucoure as a holding player) Rodney (capable of playing wing back or full back) and Adaramola (competition with Mitchell) get promoted to the first team.

As an older fan I have to congratulate you

Now, there's a point, they can have JA, providing we can have Toney & £7m. I know he can't play till Jan, but, c'mon, he's a darn sight better CF than any of our other CF's since FFS. Just a thought.

Edited by eagleman13 (28 Jun 2023 12.22pm)

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