Paul Robinson

Sat 8 February 2025 12:00, UK

Tottenham made a last-minute offer to sign Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi amid concerns about Ange Postecoglou’s defensive reinforcements.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who remains well-connected at his former club, insisted that Palace were never likely to sell the 24-year-old in the mid-season window.

Spurs’ offer was compared to the type usually made by West Ham – making a public offer which is unlikely to be accepted in an attempt to appease supporters.

Robinson has previously been critical of the Hammers’ transfer business after they made a £57million bid to sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa, urging them to stop the “PR exercise”.

Now, the former goalkeeper has insisted Tottenham should have spoken to Palace off the record to establish an asking price, rather than making a late offer out of the blue.

He went on to claim that Guehi would have been a “great signing” amid their ongoing defensive issues, but it should have been done at the start of the month.

‘West Ham bid’ from Tottenham amid Marc Guehi latest

Palace rejected the £70million bid out of hand given the timing of it, after Trevoh Chalobah was recalled by Chelsea and Chadi Riad suffered an ACL injury which left them short of options.

Robinson insisted that Tottenham would have been aware their bid was unlikely to be accepted, hinting that the bid was simply an excuse to say they had tried to get deals done.

“You’d like to think they’d been prepared for the window,” he told Football Insider.

“But the bid was very much like a West Ham bid, wasn’t it?

“It was just throwing a bid out there at the last minute to get it in the public domain, without any real hope of getting the player.

“Palace have stated on numerous occasions that they’re not interested in selling Guehi, especially not in the January window.

“Have they got enough defensive reinforcements? That will be the question that’s asked, and time will tell, we’ll see how it goes.

“Guehi would’ve been a great signing.

“That’s the type of signing that, if you mean business and you want players like that, you talk to Crystal Palace off the record and see how much they want for the player.

“Then, in the first week of January, you go and do the deal.

“But it was a deal that was never going to happen.”

Real reason Daniel Levy missed out on late January signings

Guehi was one of a number of transfers Tottenham missed out on in January, after they were turned down by both Axel Disasi and Fikayo Tomori late in the window.

Former Spurs scout Mick Brown told Football Insider on 6 February that it was the timing of the offers which left players with little time to make a firm decision.

He explained making moves late in the window carries an element of risk and has piled the pressure on Daniel Levy as a result of his actions.

Tottenham eventually completed the signings of Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel, strengthening both at the back and up front, with both expected to make their loan moves permanent in the summer.

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