Anfield spending spree
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Liverpool look set to continue their remarkable summer spending with the signing of Crystal Palace central defender Marc Guéhi. According to the Times, the Anfield club are prepared to make an offer that could reach a total of £35 million (€40.5m) for the 25-year-old talent. If completed, it would take Liverpool’s spending on new players to €334.2m and make Guéhi the club’s most expensive central defender since they signed Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton for €84.6m in January 2018.
Guéhi was the subject of serious attention last summer, with Newcastle reportedly having an offer rejected for the player last summer, while Tottenham also made an attempt to sign the England international in the January transfer window. However, with Guéhi’s contract set to expire next summer, Palace are under pressure to cash in on the defender ahead of this season and it now seems as though Liverpool have won the race to sign the defensive talent.
After making a €23.3m move from Chelsea to Selhurst Park in the summer of 2021, Guéhi thrived at the South London club and over the course of the last four years his market value has steadily increased. When he departed Stamford Bridge, the English defender’s market value stood at just €10m but has steadily climbed since then to an impressive €45m. Not only does that make him the second most valuable player at Palace and the 18th most valuable English player in the game, but it also constitutes a €35m increase in market value in the last four years – only seven central defenders in the Premier League can lay claim to a bigger jump in market value in that period of time.
As previously noted, should Liverpool complete the signing of Guéhi for the quoted fee, it will take their spending this summer to a remarkable €334.2m. Not only is that the largest sum of money that the Anfield club have ever spent in a single transfer window, but it would also be the fourth highest any club has ever spent in the history of the game. Only Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2023 (€350m spent), Al-Hilal in the summer of 2023 (€353m spent) and Chelsea’s summer spending spree in 2023 (€464m) saw more money spent on new players than the Anfield club in the last few months.