Liverpool passed on a deal to sign Marc Guehi, with the England international ending up joining Manchester City from Crystal Palace earlier this week
20:55, 22 Jan 2026
Liverpool missed out on Marc Guehi
Liverpool missed out on Marc Guehi(Image: 2026 Sebastian Frej)
Liverpool didn't believe it would have made financial sense to match the package that Manchester City put together in order to sign Marc Guehi.
The Reds pursued Guehi last summer but failed to land him – despite reaching an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the England international on deadline day.
After spending the first half of the season at Palace, Guehi secured a move to City earlier this week, with the Eagles accepting a £20 million ($27 million) offer for him. Had Guehi stayed at Palace for the full season, he would have been free to leave on a free transfer in the summer, which is why City managed to get him for a relatively low fee.
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Many Liverpool fans were left wondering why the Reds didn't challenge City for Guehi's services, and The Athletic's David Ornstein has given an explanation.
“The word from Liverpool is that the finances didn’t make sense to them, 20 million pounds plus salary and agent commissions and whatever the total package would be for just four months of football. That’s their version of events.
“Others will say that after what happened in the summer, he didn’t want to go there and his focus was on Manchester City, where he’s ended up and says that it was always City, to quote him.
“Others would have been there in the summer too, possibly Arsenal, Bayern Munich were pushing hard, Barcelona were in the mix. I think he was due to go and visit maybe Bayern Munich and Barcelona I was hearing, which he’s entitled to do as a free agent.
“You can sign a pre-contract agreement legally with a foreign club. I think a lot has gone on in that situation. We don’t know the exact ins and outs of it yet.
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“However, Manchester City put their best foot forward. They’ve come up trumps, they’ve won the race, and it’s an exceptional signing.”
Liverpool finds itself in an undesirable position at center-back at the moment, with Ibrahima Konate out of contract this summer, and Virgil van Dijk – who will turn 35 this year – out of contract in 2027.
Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni are the only other central defenders in Liverpool's squad, and Gomez has struggled with his fitness for some time now, while Leoni suffered a season-ending knee injury in September.