NEWCASTLE UNITED will revisit their interest in Marc Guehi in January – but are adamant the England international’s value will have decreased by the time the transfer window reopens.

The Magpies made a series of unsuccessful attempts to sign Guehi ahead of last month’s transfer deadline, with their final offer of £70m being rejected by Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish.

Newcastle will make renewed contact with the Palace hierarchy in January as Guehi remains a leading defensive target, however the club’s recruitment team, led by sporting director Paul Mitchell, will be significantly reducing the offer that was tabled this summer.

By the time the transfer window reopens at the start of next year, Guehi will have entered the final 18 months of his contract at Selhurst Park. There are currently no signs of the centre-half signing a new deal with Palace, meaning his value will drop considerably with every window that passes.

Newcastle’s defensive situation could look somewhat different by the turn of the year, with Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles both expected to return from cruciate-ligament injuries in December.

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However, with Lascelles, Dan Burn and Fabian Schar all having entered the final year of their respective contracts at St James’ Park, there is an acceptance that Newcastle’s central-defensive ranks will require major surgery over the course of the next 12 months. As a result, Guehi is likely to remain a major January target even if Botman and Lascelles are back in the fold.

Mitchell is planning a major overhaul of Newcastle’s recruitment operation, having criticised some of the structures and procedures he inherited when he took over as sporting director at the start of July.

There is a desire to introduce a more strategic, data-driven model than the current scouting approach, with Mitchell keen to spread the global reach of Newcastle’s recruitment capabilities rather than focusing on a relatively small number of core markets, as has largely been the case in the last few windows.