Liverpool have begun talks with Crystal Palace over a deal for centre-back Marc Guehi, with negotiations at below the FA Cup winners’ previous asking price.
Guehi is now expected to leave Crystal Palace before the end of the transfer window, with chairman Steve Parish conceding his sale is likely.
Liverpool are the 25-year-old’s most likely destination and the Times‘ Paul Joyce now reports that talks are underway between the two clubs.
The proposed deal is worth £30 million with a further £5 million built in through various add-ons.
That is below the asking price widely reported earlier in the summer, which began at closer to £65 million and later fell to £40 million.
Guehi is clearly open to the move to Anfield and negotiations appear to have stepped up following Parish’s public encouragement over a transfer.
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 10, 2025: Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk (L) exchanges pennants with Crystal Palace's captain Marc Guéhi before the FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Palace won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“For players of that calibre to leave on a free, it’s a problem. No doubt about it, unfortunately,” Parish told reporters after the Community Shield.
Any deal for the England international could be added to by the pursuit of Parma’s Giovanni Leoni, who This Is Anfield understands is also a target for Liverpool.
Leoni, 18, has not yet communicated whether he would be willing to leave Italy at this stage in his career and therefore no contact has been made with his club as of yet.
Signing both Guehi and Leoni would not be an issue for Liverpool either financially or in terms of squad size, as the former would be eligible as homegrown in the Premier League and the latter would be classed as an U21 player.
3B3EKGR Rome, Italy. 28th Apr, 2025. Giovanni Leoni of Parma seen during Italian football championship Serie A Enilive 2024-2025 derby match between SS Lazio Vs Parma Calcio 1913 at Stadio Olimpico. Final result of the match Lazio 2 : 2 Parma (Photo by Marco Iacobucci/SOPA Images/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Live News
In fact, the Italy youth international would eventually qualify as homegrown if he were to join this summer and spend the next three seasons with clubs in England or Wales.
Liverpool are in desperate need of reinforcement at centre-back as, with Jarell Quansah sold to Bayer Leverkusen and Joe Gomez again sidelined through injury, their only specialist senior options are Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
While they are two of the best in the world in their position, the reality is that Van Dijk is now 34 and Konate has entered the final year of his contract with no guarantee of an extension.
Guehi also has under 12 months left on his deal with Palace and that has fuelled the London club’s willingness to sell.