Seeing Marc Guehi unveiled as a Manchester City player will have hurt Liverpool supporters this week after a months-long transfer saga involving the centre-back.
The Reds should have come back in for Guehi in the eyes of many fans, and losing out to one of their biggest Premier League rivals could come back to haunt them.
Nevertheless, there have been suggestions that the 25-year-old is on enormous wages at the Etihad Stadium, figures Liverpool simply did not want to pay.
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Who should be Liverpool’s top centre-back target after missing out on Marc Guehi?
Micky van de Ven pictured during Tottenham Hotspurs' Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park (Credit: Getty Images/Sebastian Frej).
Alessandro Bastoni warms up ahead of the Serie A match between Inter Milan and Torino at San Siro Stadium (Credit: Getty Images/Marco Luzzani).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Sebastian Frej/Marco Luzzani
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The eventual £20m fee looks like a bargain on the face of it, but given the total cost of the deal, the thinking has been that Liverpool did not see value in paying so much for a player who would cost nothing in six months’ time.
However, journalist David Ornstein says that may not be the whole story. According to the reporter, some insiders believe that Guehi himself decided that he no longer wanted to join Liverpool.
Marc Guehi turned his nose up at Liverpool
It is understandable that Liverpool were hoping Guehi would honour the agreement they came to last year and wait for his move to Anfield in the summer.
The England international is often held up as a perfect professional, and perhaps Liverpool were banking on that being the case.
Marc Guehi of England lines up for the national anthem prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between England and Andorra at Villa Park.
Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
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Instead, as Ornstein tells The Transfers Podcast, some think that Guehi simply decided that City were the more attractive option despite his previous decision to join the Reds.
“The word from Anfield is that they saw it as a market opportunity at that price in the summer with a year to go,” said the reporter. “The finances involved at this point, they didn’t feel that they were either able to, and again, we don’t know the financial situation of these clubs ourselves as well as they do, or they chose not to with four months of football to go, hoping that he would be available and they would be firmly in the mix come the end of the season. And the other clubs, similarly, they either weren’t able to or didn’t want to now, and Manchester City really did.
“There are others who say that’s not the main factor – it’s that Marc Guehi, after what happened in the summer, decided that he didn’t want a move to Liverpool now. Not saying they were in, but if they had been in, he wanted to go to Manchester City, and in his interview after signing, he says, ‘it was always City’.”
Tottenham want a British transfer record for Micky van de Ven! Surely there are cheaper alternatives? 😵💫
Micky van de Ven in action for Tottenham Hotspur during their UEFA Champions League match against Slavia Prague at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images
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Liverpool should not forget Guehi snub
Liverpool’s failure to land Guehi when he was all-but signed for the club should serve as a lesson to the Reds hierarchy.
Moving forward, they need to remember how this saga played out and make sure that they move for targets as quickly as they possibly can.
Had they not been penny-pinching during the summer, they would seemingly have been able to sign Guehi without opposition. Had they offered £5-10m more to Crystal Palace in June or July, surely he would be a Liverpool player now. It should not happen again.
As for Guehi himself, Anfield should also remember his snub of the club when he visits with City in February.
Had he really wanted to play for Liverpool, he would have turned Pep Guardiola’s team down this month and waited until the end of the season. Instead, he turned his back on the Reds, and Anfield should let him know what that means.
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