Manchester City are on the verge of agreeing a £20million move for the Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guéhi.
City are close to agreeing personal terms on a 5½-year deal with Guéhi, 25, who has entered the final six months of his contract. Palace had wanted £40million for their captain.
Pep Guardiola’s side are prepared to compensate him for the money he would otherwise receive as a free agent this summer. Guéhi will not be in the Palace squad to play Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday.
City had intended to pursue Guéhi as a free agent this summer but their need for defensive reinforcements has been intensified by John Stones’s long-term absence, a fractured leg for Josko Gvardiol and a hamstring problem that will sideline Rúben Dias for a few weeks.
Despite City’s injury problems, Guéhi would not be able to play in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg or the final.
This season players were allowed to play for two clubs in the competition, as Antoine Semenyo did for City after his move from Bournemouth earlier this month. However the EFL’s rules state that any transfers must have taken place before the first leg of the semi-final meaning Guéhi, who played for Palace three times in the competition, will miss City’s second leg against Newcastle and the final should they make it.
Semenyo scored his second City goal in the first leg of the semi-final against Newcastle this week
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“Without John, without Rúben, without Josko, we are in a difficult situation,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Not for one game but for a long, long period it’s a difficult situation. But Rúben is back soon, John we will see, Josko no. So, we will see.”
Oliver Glasner, the Palace head coach, who on Friday confirmed he would be leaving the club at the end of the season, has admitted that they could sell his captain. He intervened to help stop Guéhi’s proposed £35million move to Liverpool on deadline day in September, while the defender was having a medical in London. Glasner has voiced his unhappiness about his squad depth and need for transfers.
Pep Guardiola likes good characters and his interest in Guéhi has probably been enhanced by the centre back’s attitude and focus since missing out on a move to Anfield.
Guéhi won the Community Shield with Palace in August, beating Liverpool before a proposed move to Anfield fell through on deadline day
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Guéhi could quickly become first choice, competing with the present pairing of Stones and Dias. Stones, has had injury issues but may still be given a new contract when his deal expires in the summer, while Dias, 28, is a leader but lacks pace. Guardiola has tended to prefer a left-footed player on the left side of his defence, but Guéhi is right-footed.
With Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne City’s only fit central defenders, that inexperienced duo look likely to start in the visit to Manchester United on Sunday, a third consecutive game after the 10-1 FA Cup win over Exeter City and the impressive 2-0 Carabao Cup victory away to Newcastle United.
“They have been top. Surprised me, with how connected they are,” Guardiola said. “Both have come in a tough period, they’ve had tough games. Brighton for Max, Exeter was a bit different because of the result. But Newcastle away, they were brilliant.”
City’s defensive crisis intensified against Chelsea at the start of the month when Josko Gvardiol picked up a potentially season-ending leg fracture and Ruben Días a hamstring injury that could keep him out for six weeks.
They joined long-term injury victim John Stones on the sidelines and prompted Guardiola into recalling Alleyne, 20, from a loan spell at Watford and, while he would not discuss Guéhi directly, the City manager is clearly ready to act in the transfer market, adding to the £62.5million signing of Semenyo.
“What I thought? We are in trouble. That was my first thought,” Guardiola said of the defensive injuries. “But that is why we loaned [Alleyne] with an option to recover the player.
“The rest we’ll see. Normally when you sign a player, it’s not just for three months or two months, it’s for years. And after the club has to decide, this is the player for years.
Alleyne made his third straight start for City in the Carabao Cup game against Newcastle after being recalled from his loan
OLI SCARFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
“When we bring Semenyo, we had a problem with the wingers from day one and the chance that maybe we could do it and the club can afford it for the release clause. So Antoine comes for years, he’s not come to solve a short-term problem.
“And this is the best way. So when you have an injury like has happened now in one department, like a central defender, they don’t come [as cover] until the players who come back. Last season, for example, Khusanov or Victor, especially Khusanov, came, you know, [aged] 21 years old, [as a long-term signing] for many, many years.
“Without John, without Ruben, without Josko, we are in a difficult situation. Not for one game but for a long, long period, it’s a difficult situation.”
In recent months City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have joined Liverpool in the battle for the Guéhi’s signature. Palace will not receive the full proceeds from any transfer, as they have to pay 20 per cent of the profit on the deal to Chelsea, from whom they signed the England defender in 2021.
Liverpool’s intention since the deadline-day collapse had been to move for Guéhi this summer when he would be available on a free transfer. They were adamant they would not pay a fee for the player in January. Having spent £450million on new signings last summer, the club has previously stressed there is not an “unlimited” pot of money.
There is, however, the need for reinforcements at centre back at the end of the season, even allowing for the fact Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez will entering the final year of their respective deals. Ibrahima Konaté is also out of contract in June with a breakthrough in discussions on a new contract thus far out of reach.