Chelsea's Marc Guehi transfer stalls as Enzo Maresca forced to delay move

Chelsea's potential move for Marc Guehi could hit a snag over wages.

Crystal Palace’s England defender could comfortably command a salary towards the £200,000-a-week mark at top Premier League clubs. Guehi’s earnings would also be expected to reflect his transfer value which could easily top £50m bearing in mind Palace wanted £70m last summer.

His value is lilkely to go down from now on as he only has 18 months left on his contract but Chelsea also have a strict wage structure which has lower basic terms but longer deals for their top stars.

That could yet be a sticking point as Chelsea consider bringing back their academy graduate who left Stamford Bridge for £18m in 2021. A deal for Guehi is more likely in the summer even though Palace are reluctant to sell.

But Chelsea want reinforcements after losing Wesley Fofana for potentially the rest of the season. Blues boss Enzo Maresca has admitted his admiration for Guehi, though has not ruled out a recall for Trevoh Chalobah.

"The only thing I can say is Marc Guehi is a Palace player,” he said. “I like Marc for sure but he is not our player. But I like also the central defenders we have.

"I also like different types of central defenders in Italy, Spain and France but that doesn't mean we are going to buy a player. It is a normal situation I think when you have central defenders injured that the speculation is there. At the same time, there is nothing there.

"This is exactly the same [a Chalobah recall]. Unfortunately I have to give you the same answer. Trev is a good player but in this moment he is a Palace player, so we will see.”

Though Chelsea are currently without Fofana and Benoit Badiashile, they still have multiple senior centre-backs to choose from, including Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi and summer signing Tosin Adarabioyo.

Palace boss Oliver Glasner has played down the chances of Guehi making an exit this month. He said last week: “I think so. No player from our squad came to me and said [they] want to leave. No one.

“No one that played all the games, all the minutes, like Marc, and no one from the players who didn’t play so many minutes. This is the most relevant part: what the player tells me. If one is coming and says they want to leave and both clubs find an agreement, I think it will happen.

"But as long as a player doesn’t come — and Marc didn’t come — I am really not concerned he will leave. January 31 is a long time [away], and I know I will have to answer this question several times. You will hear the same answer again.”