Arsenal's move for Saliba rival complicated by secret Chelsea clause

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 1 May 2023 11:37 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal are interested in landing Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi this summer, but their hopes of landing the defender could be dashed by Chelsea.

The Gunners have regularly gone head-to-head with their London rivals in the transfer market over the course of the last year, with Mykhailo Mudryk’s January switch to Stamford Bridge from Shakhtar Donetsk the most notable example of the club’s squaring off.

And if Arsenal are to land Guehi, as The Express reports they wish, they will have to find a way past the Blues to land a player valued at €42 million.

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FootballTransfers has previously revealed that Tottenham are interested in signing the 22-year-old centre-back, who has a contract at Selhurst Park until 2026. However, this is jeopardised by the managerial uncertainty at Spurs.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are known to be in the market for a centre-back who can offer support to William Saliba, who has been ruled out of the derby match with Chelsea on Tuesday because of his ongoing injury problems.

During the absence of the Frenchman, the Gunners have endured a four-match winless streak that has seen them concede an alarming 11 goals.

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Chelsea’s Guehi transfer clause

Signing Guehi will not be as straightforward as simply having an offer accepted by Crystal Palace because the Blues have a clause in his contract that means they have first refusal to sign him.

Chelsea do not have a straight buyback clause as they do in the case of Southampton full-back Tino Livramento, who they can buy for £38 million at any point they wish.

What they do have, though, is a formal agreement that kicks in this summer which means they have the option to match any transfer bid for Guehi that is accepted by Crystal Palace.

That means if Arsenal are successful with any approach, they have the opportunity to match that bid and speak to the player, who they sold to Palace in €23m for in 2021.

Given the respective position of the two clubs, there is no guarantee that Guehi would favour a return to Chelsea over a move to Arsenal, but it is certainly a complicating factor for the Gunners as they look to offer support to a defence that has been undermined by Saliba’s absence.