Guehi has a big decision to makeplaceholder image
Guehi has a big decision to make | Getty Images
Marc Guehi faces a big decision as his Crystal Palace contract continues to run down.
Marc Guehi could once again dominate the final days of the transfer window headlines. The Crystal Palace star led the drama of the last transfer deadline, though not necessarily by his own doing.
The England international was cleared to have a medical at Liverpool only to be told to head back to Selhurst Park in the final minutes due to the Eagles failing to find a replacement on time.
Until now, Guehi has been insisting on a Palace stay until the summer, when he would be making the move for free, albeit likely with inflated salary demands, but as Liverpool and Arsenal keep their eyes on a summer move, they could be beaten to the punch.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester City will try to get a deal done next week, willing to pay Palace a fee now to do a deal, but they will not pull the trigger until they get a go-ahead from Guehi himself.
“I can tell you with Marc Guehi, the real intention of the player has always been to move in the summer. with Liverpool really pushing and Arsenal calling because Arteta is a big fan,” Romano said on his YouTube channel.
“So, with these two clubs insisting and Bayern Munich also having some meetings over Guehi, but now Upamecano is expected to sign a new contract, then Manchester City have been clear - they want to try.
“They want to make a contract proposal for Marc Guehi and they want to go strong. They will try next week, and if Guehi accepts, Man City will make an agreement with Crystal Palace, they don’t have any problems with that. But, it’s on the player, and his plan has always been to move in the summer.”
Palace could forego a fee
One factor that may be overlooked in this scenario is Palace’s willingness to go without a fee when offloading Guehi. The Eagles already passed up the opportunity to bring in significant cash in the summer at the risk of losing the defender for free a year later.
They made that decision because, in the absence of a replacement, they know offloading Guehi could cripple their season. Now, having had a poor run of form, Palace risk turning their season into a mess by selling Guehi this month, and they would be under real pressure to find a very good replacement in an expensive month to do business.
Few clubs are selling starting-calibre centre-backs, and even few are selling them for cheap, keeping in mind Manchester City are not going to offer big money for Guehi with the knowledge he is out of contract in the summer.
That is not a straightforward decision for Palace, and especially not when they risk upsetting Oliver Glasner, who they are trying to convince to sign a new deal, with his deal also up in the summer.
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