Football finance expert names price point at which Liverpool could plausibly sign Marc Guehi
Having been thwarted at the 11th hour with a prospective transfer for Marc Guehi last summer, will Liverpool finally get their man in January?
A £35m deal had been agreed with Crystal Palace four months ago, only for the Eagles to pull the plug when the transaction was on the brink of being completed, and speculation over the centre-back’s future has been constant ever since.
The Reds remain firmly interested in trying to sign the 25-year-old (The Athletic), but with the likes of Manchester City and Barcelona reportedly hovering, Anfield chiefs mightn’t be in a position to wait for their moment to pounce.
With Guehi now into the final six months of his contract, Palace face a major dilemma over whether to take the money for him this month and lose their defensive lynchpin, or absorb the financial hit in favour of keeping their captain for the rest of the season.
Palace may be compelled to sell Guehi for ‘£30m-£35m’
Speaking to Football Insider, Stefan Borson – former financial adviser to Man City – named the price point at which the Eagles might feel compelled to sell their skipper this month if they were offered it.
He explained: “They’re going to go a long way in the Conference League. They’re going to have a lot of games left. They need a squad, and of course we’ve got the Guehi issue that’s a real risk to them.
“I think it’s likely that if somebody puts £30m-£35m on the table, they’re going to have to take it from a business perspective.”
Liverpool mustn’t delay if they want to sign Guehi this month
Earlier this week, Borson had stated how prospective suitors for Guehi could put Palace chiefs ‘on the spot’ and argue the case for taking the money this month for the sake of another ’30 matches’ for the Eagles.
The south Londoners’ Conference League involvement will test their already injury-ravaged squad even further in the coming weeks (they must go through the play-off round in February), which could make them more inclined to take the financial hit from keeping the captain until his contract runs out.
However, having struck a £35m agreement at the end of the summer transfer window, Liverpool may feel that a similar offer would break Palace’s resolve, especially now that the defender is much closer to becoming a free agent.
If the Reds are serious about signing Guehi, what they mustn’t do is repeat their 2025 folly of leaving it until the last to make their move. Had they gone for him in mid-August rather than the end of the month, the Eagles would’ve had sufficient time to replace him and mightn’t have hijacked the deal.
With that in mind, and considering the reported interest from elsewhere, Richard Hughes mustn’t hang around if he truly wants to get the England international through the door in January. It could ultimately make a huge difference towards determining whether or not LFC secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
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