By the time Marc Guehi is finished celebrating Crystal Palace's FA Cup win, he will have less than 12 months left on his contract. It is a reality which means he is likely to be two games from leaving Selhurst Park.
Maybe the only surprise with Guehi is that he is still at Palace for this great achievement. Yes, he is the club captain, but he was also the centre of massive transfer interest last summer and also in January.
Newcastle United looked close to securing a £65 million deal for the England international only for it to fall through late on. He would have been justified in wondering what might have been when he saw them lift the Carabao Cup in March.
Eddie Howe has since made a serious push for the top five and qualification for the Champions League again. Guehi, as an FA Cup winner and a starting centre-back in last year's European Championship final, belongs at that level.
It is where he was tipped to get to when captaining the Chelsea academy teams through unprecedented success and it is where he surely will end up. If four seasons of being a brilliant Premier League defender doesn't demonstrate that, then maybe this will.
Guehi, along with Maxence Lacroix and Chris Richards, were imperious at Wembley Stadium for Palace, just as they had been last month to get to the final with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa. Daniel Munoz was also excellent, as was everyone in red and blue, with Dean Henderson making countless great saves, but sometimes it is grit, effort, and doggedness that matters.
This has always been a staple of Guehi's game. As well as being a terrific two-footed passer and a leader of men despite his age (he will turn 25 over the summer), Guehi has the intangible qualities that managers adore. It is why both Gareth Southgate and now Thomas Tuchel have him at the heart of England's defence and it is why Oliver Glasner has found it so easy to get on with him.
Guehi already has over 130 Premier League appearances and has played more than 200 in senior football. He has cut his teeth in the EFL with Swansea City in the Championship, which is always a good string to have on the bow and the sign of a strong player, as well offering versatility.
He can play in a back four and a back five, operating on the left or right. His aerial game is good, if not spectacular. That is partially down to his height but has not detracted from him becoming one of the most accomplished defenders around.
The fact that he will be available for free in just over a year is a matter which will come to a head sooner rather than later. Palace cannot afford to lose him for nothing and know that the chances of an extension remain slim.
Guehi may well have a turn of heart after this great moment - and who would blame him? Palace will be in the Europa League next season, after all - but it might also be the end. He has not moved towards signing a new deal in the two years of interest.
He has remained extremely loyal and notably spent a lot of the time during the celebrations at Wembley going round to hug Palace coaches and various members of the backroom staff. He spared plenty of time to talk to those who have played a key role in this historic day. He showed typical class.
All of this came after being subbed off with half an hour left. Guehi was struck by a wayward Ryan Wharton shot and took it to the head. He stayed down and had to be treated by the medical staff. Despite looking groggy and dazed, it is a credit to Guehi that he continued on for 10 more minutes (even if head injury protocols disagree).
That is the sort of player he is and always has been. Chelsea, as the side which sold him for £20m in 2021 (ironically under Tuchel), are one of those who admire him. It is easy to see why.
Speaking ahead of the game he had already said: “I think the most important is just always doing the best I can for this football club. 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. I’m still under contract at this football club. The most important is just doing the best I can and then seeing what the future holds.”
Guehi's former club are after a new centre-back in 2025 and Guehi has a lot going for him. Outside of his ability, which is a fairly obvious draw, he has experience of the league and also plenty of unfinished business.
Given that Guehi was sold by during Roman Abramovich's era, coming back to the place where he graduated as a teenager is not necessarily a path with massive obstacles. Unlike Declan Rice, who Chelsea showed a hesitancy to sign when Frank Lampard was in charge because of his past at Cobham, Guehi would be coming to a very different environment.
Chelsea included a clause which enables them to match any bid for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi after selling him in 2021
Perhaps this keeps a move on the table. Chelsea have a number of options when it comes to defenders but Guehi is a name which has never gone away.
Unlike some others, Guehi was not exactly forced out, either. He saw a blocked pathway ahead of him after finishing off with Swansea and preferred to back himself to make the grade elsewhere rather than going into the fringes of Tuchel's group of Champions League winners that season.
He played with Trevoh Chalobah and Reece James when a junior at Chelsea (as well as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, and many others). There is history to correct because Chelsea have signed plenty of centre-backs since Guehi left, and very few have been better than he not only is now but also than he was at the time.
The brutal truth of this all is that Chelse would likely be replacing one Cobham graduate with another one, here. Chalobah had played with Guehi at Palace until January before being recalled. Chalobah celebrated the Palace win online as his ex-teammates got the job done.
Chalobah was also fortunate to stay at Chelsea in 2021 when the club were happy enough to see him go. Guehi is younger than Chalobah and was behind him in the pecking order.
Chalobah is now defender most likely to be sold by Chelsea despite performing so admirably of late. Alongside Levi Colwill (Cobham developed, of course), Enzo Maresca has settled on a partnership which has helped to push Chelsea toward a Champions League spot themselves.
The reality that Chalobah is still not in the plans of the sporting directors nevertheless remains. He is viewed as being more valuable as pure profit than he is to the team. It is this that would help fund Guehi.
Even if his contract situation and significant sell-on clause (thought to be 20 per cent) does offer Chelsea a way to work the numbers in their favour, using Chalobah as either a makeweight with Palace or as a source of cash is exactly the sort of trick that the club are looking at. That will disappoint those who are keen to see Guehi reunited with his previous Cobham colleagues.
On a team level, having Guehi and Colwill together does raise some problems. Neither are dominant and have had trouble against more physical opponents. They also both prefer to play from the left.
However, Guehi is an adaptable centre-back, as is Chalobah. Chelsea could do (and have done) a lot worse than to build around and settle with the three of them at the heart of defence.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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