PRAISE: For Leeds United from Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, right.placeholder image
PRAISE: For Leeds United from Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, right. | Getty Images
Chelsea are looking for a new manager, but this doesn’t mean that the hunt for new players has stopped too.
In days gone past, a football club would be borderline impotent without a manager at the helm, someone to make decisions on transfers and the day to day running of business behind the scenes.
Clubs like Chelsea are too big for one person to be in charge and modern football has seen ‘head coach’ replace ‘manager’ across the Premier League and the world game in general. They still have a say in terms of what players are signed, however, as seen by Enzo Maresca’s exit, they sometimes don’t have as much influence as they would want.
Chelsea could make Marc Guehi move
The favourite to replace the departed Italian is Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior with his position as a BlueCo employee giving him an already impressive interview that external candidates would struggle to compete with. The former Hull City boss has worked in the same structure at the Ligue 1 outfit and knows that he will only have a degree of input into what players are signed, but this hasn’t stopped him from naming who he wants through the door first.
According to Caught Offside, Rosenior wants Marc Guehi to be the foundation on what Chelsea are built on for the immediate future: “One of his first priorities is understood to be strengthening the defensive unit, and that has brought Marc Guéhi firmly into the spotlight as a potential January signing. The England international, currently captain of Crystal Palace, is highly regarded by Rosenior for his leadership, composure on the ball and ability to play in a high defensive line.”
Guehi is one of Europe’s most-wanted players. The England international is pre-peak, meaning that he has a good few years before he is considered to be at his best for his position. He is consistently one of his country’s best players and is rarely responsible for costing his team goals. Guehi is also a consummate professional in that he values the opportunity he has a footballer and wants to make the most of his ability.
BBC Sport reported on Monday that Man City were emerging as contenders to sign him with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid all eyeing him along with Liverpool.
What did Guehi say about leaving Chelsea?
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after leaving Chelsea, it was clear that Guehi didn’t want to leave The Blues, but appreciated the benefits of taking a step back to propel his career forwards/
"There's a priority in life," Guehi said, "you've got your family, you've got your morals as well. For my parents when they said put education first, that was really important because we didn't know how far football could take us, or if it was the right avenue for us to take at the time."
It was not until later on, at around 15 years old, that Guehi realised he could make something from football. "I just listened to my parents and did what I had to do," he says, "and then things happen in life where you take your own path and end up playing for Chelsea and going right the way through."
All Chelsea have to do now is persuade Guehi that returning “home” is the best option for this stage of his career to complete the circle.
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