Liverpool target Marc Guehi has reportedly been offered a contract proposal by Premier League rivals Manchester City. The English international has just six months left on his contract at Crystal Palace, with a move away being touted for the defender this month.
The Reds were on the verge of securing Guehi’s signature in the summer, but despite agreeing a £35million deal with Palace, the move fell through at the 11th hour. The reasoning behind the collapsed deal was Palace’s inability to secure a replacement in time before the window shut.
There was a suggestion that Guehi would complete his Liverpool move later down the line, although a spanner appears to have been thrown in the works. That’s because Fabrizio Romano is reporting that Manchester City have upped the ante in pursuit of Guehi, amid a pretty nasty injury crisis in their defence.
It’s reported that a contract has been proposed by City, with the 2023 European champions having also submitted a bid to Crystal Palace, believed to be in the region of £30m. If true, it would represent less than the £35m Palace were set to bank for Guehi’s signature in the summer window.
Whether Palace accept the bid remains to be seen, given reports from earlier in the month suggested they were holding out for more than the £35m Liverpool offered six months ago. That could be because the initial contract Guehi signed following his switch from Chelsea included some sell-on initiatives, meaning the Eagles could have to forward a chunk of cash onto their London rivals.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been quizzed extensively on the future of Guehi, with the Austrian accepting the reality that the club might have to sell. Speaking in January, he explained: “There’s the situation that the contract ends in the summer and if somebody is coming, there will be a moment when the club says: ‘Now the financial issue is more important than the sport issue.’ We have to do it and try to get the best. That’s why I’m always saying: ‘I don’t know.’ Because this is different.
“There will be a threshold where the club has to say [sell] … If the player says: ‘I want to leave’ and the money is above the threshold, it will happen. I’m not so naive not to know that if a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen.”