Marc Guéhi will reject any offer of a new contract from Crystal Palace and plans to leave as a free agent when his contract expires next summer.
The England centre back, 25, was left disappointed after a proposed move to Liverpool collapsed on Monday night, despite him beginning a medical after a £35million bid was accepted by Palace.
Guéhi, who had agreed a five-year deal with the Premier League champions and was waiting at their London office during the latter stages of deadline day, will be able to sign a pre-contract with a club overseas in January or wait until next summer to potentially complete a move to Anfield.
Palace’s decision to keep Guéhi came after heated discussions between Oliver Glasner, their manager, and Steve Parish, the club’s chairman, who said last month that “players leaving on a free is not ideal”. Palace had previously rejected offers for Guéhi from Newcastle United last summer and Tottenham Hotspur in January, each worth more than £65million.
Glasner has expressed his frustration at Palace’s slow recruitment during the summer
THE TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BRADLEY ORMESHER
There were fears that Glasner could resign if his captain was sold without Palace signing a suitable replacement. The Austrian, 51, is out of contract at the end of the season and the prospects of him being willing to sign a new deal have diminished over the summer.
Glasner has several times voiced his anger about the club being slow to recruit during the window, especially as he wants a bigger squad to cope with the demands of the Conference League. His problems worsened after he learnt that two key players, Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr, are set for long spells on the sidelines with injuries.
Wharton faces about three weeks out with an adductor injury suffered in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, having missed three months of last season after he had groin surgery in November. Sarr, meanwhile, could be out for about six weeks after the attacking midfielder tore his hamstring. In an additional blow, Yeremy Pino, the attacking midfielder who made his debut as a substitute against Villa, has an issue with his right ankle. All three players have withdrawn from international duty with their respective countries.
Those injuries, in addition to the sale of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, have left Glasner short of midfield attacking options for his wingback system. He has Daichi Kamada, Romain Esse, Justin Devenny and Christantus Uche, the latter having joined from Getafe on Monday.
Wharton’s absence poses another problem for Glasner, who is balancing his squad against the demands of European football
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Palace are expected to appoint Matt Hobbs as the successor to Dougie Freedman, who left his role as sporting director in March to oversee several sports for Al-Diriyah, a football club in the second tier of Saudi Arabian football. Hobbs left Wolverhampton Wanderers by mutual consent in June as part of a wider restructure of the football department. He was a guest of Parish for the match away to Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season.
Palace were set to post a farewell video for Guéhi, which was leaked on social media. It began with the defender thanking supporters and reflecting on his time at Selhurst Park before cutting to highlights of his career at the club, including his role in the FA Cup triumph over Manchester City in May.
Palace failed to sign several centre-back targets this summer including Igor Julio, who joined West Ham United on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion on deadline day, Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande and Inter Milan’s Yann Bisseck, as well as the forward Evann Guessand, who moved to Aston Villa from Nice.