Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi
Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi
Marc Guehi will see what the future holds but the Newcastle United target insisted the 'most important thing' is doing his best for Crystal Palace.
Guehi is, of course, fresh from captaining Crystal Palace to their first major trophy following his side's superb 1-0 win against Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Although Guehi had to come off at Wembley, after taking a blow to the eye, the Crystal Palace skipper was still able to climb the steps to take his turn lifting the cup before later being driven to hospital.
Guehi is now approaching the final year of his deal at Crystal Palace and boss Oliver Glasner previously admitted that the defender is 'thinking what is best for his personal career and this is what we have to accept'. However, Guehi is not thinking too far ahead just yet.
"The most important thing is always doing the best I can for this football club," the 24-year-old told reporters. "I come in every day and I try to be the same. I try to work hard.
"This football club has given me a lot and I'm still under contract at this football club so my focus is always at this football club. The most important thing is just doing the best I can and seeing what the future holds."
That measured response won't come as a surprise to anyone at Newcastle. Guehi's character, after all, was viewed as a big plus by Newcastle's recruitment team.
However, Newcastle ultimately stopped formally bidding for Guehi in the final weeks of the window last summer. Newcastle felt that Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish's demands for 'superstar money' went beyond what the club were prepared to pay, particularly given the centre-back's contract situation.
Addressing the delicate balance between keeping hold of a key player, and missing out on a club-record fee, Parish said last week that staying up was Crystal Palace's 'first north star' and that 'anything that increases the risk of that dramatically, it's very difficult to find a way to do it.' The Crystal Palace chairman was also conscious of not 'losing too many' following the departures of Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen to Bayern Munich and Fulham respectively.