With the dust now settled after a remarkable summer transfer window for Liverpool, they know they will be forced to wait for Marc Guehi. But it is a situation they can afford.
The circumstances around Crystal Palace‘s U-turn on a deal for Guehi are as farcical as not checking their emails as UEFA reminded them of crucial rules around their participation in the Europa League.
Palace missed the deadline to get their affairs in order regarding multi-club ownership as those reminders were sent to a generic address: [email protected].
When it came to the final hours of the summer transfer window, with a £35 million fee reluctantly agreed for the sale of their captain, chairman Steve Parish was allegedly unreachable as he attended a fitness class in Soho.
The insistence of manager Oliver Glasner, who is claimed to have threatened resignation if Guehi left, led to a last-hour decision to pull out of the deal.
Guehi was left furious, having believed he was cleared to join the Premier League champions, while Palace are now facing the conundrum of an unsettled captain and a manager who is clearly not fully committed beyond the year remaining on his contract.
Palace have strengthened Liverpool’s bargaining power
Both Glasner and Guehi’s deals expire at the same time: as it stands, on July 1, 2026 they will be free to begin new employment.
That makes the decision to keep the defender all the more confusing, though Glasner was rightly adamant that he could not leave if Palace were not in a position to sign an adequate replacement.
Though the uncertainty over which European competition they would enter this season clearly clouded the landscape, Palace had long enough to not only acknowledge Guehi’s desire to join Liverpool but also to identify and recruit his successor.
Now they are forced to muddle through a busier-than-ever campaign not knowing if they can rely on the dedication of one of their most important players.
Liverpool, meanwhile, can be safe in the knowledge that Guehi wanted them and only them, and that his market value will only diminish in the months to come.
They could feasibly return to the table in January, likely for a reduced fee, but those in the Anfield hierarchy will also be aware that, so long as they remain confident in his commitment, they could simply sign him for free next summer.
For many, Guehi would have been seen as a luxury signing for the time being, given the quality already in Arne Slot‘s centre-back ranks.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate were one of the best pairings in Europe last season and that is unlikely to change despite the Frenchman’s early-season wobble, while Joe Gomez stayed beyond the deadline to provide a reliable option when fit.
But it is Liverpool’s initial £26 million move for Italian youngster Giovanni Leoni earlier in the summer which really settles the nerves.
Liverpool’s faith in Leoni
Such is the belief in the 18-year-old – who like Guehi was minded to turn down advances from other top clubs as he prioritised Anfield – that suggestions of a loan back to Parma were immediately ruled out.
Leoni is yet to feature for Slot’s side and was left out of the squad for the 1-0 win over Arsenal, but he is considered a genuine first-team option and will be expected to provide competition to the established order as the season goes on.
With Gomez denied a move to AC Milan on deadline day as there was deemed not enough time to finalise, Slot could have been left to work with five senior centre-backs if Guehi had joined.
The word luxury is clearly not a negative one, but the head coach may have found it trickier to keep all three of Guehi, Leoni and Gomez happy behind the first-choice partnership of Van Dijk and Konate.
Moreover, the Dutchman was already comfortable knowing that he may be required to turn to one of Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch or Andy Robertson as centre-back options in an emergency.
That situation is likely to change if Guehi arrives either in January or next summer, with Liverpool aware of Gomez’s willingness to pursue opportunities elsewhere and hopefully having more clarity by then over Konate’s own future.
Next summer is the focus
Like Guehi, Konate has now entered the final year of his contract, and though he is less equivocal over leaving there are no guarantees the Frenchman will put pen to paper as talks rumble on and Real Madrid‘s interest looms.
It could be that Liverpool impose a deadline of sorts on Konate’s decision, knowing they could effectively replace him with Palace’s No. 6.
But there will also be a desire to include both in Slot’s squad for years to come, particularly as Van Dijk’s new deal only runs to 2027, by which point he will be almost 36.
Next summer is really the point in which Liverpool need to bring in another top-level centre-back, and the obvious choice in that regard remains Guehi – a player who could both partner Van Dijk and act as his long-term successor.
Despite the frustrations of deadline day, the Premier League champions are not the losers of Monday’s impasse. In reality, Palace are.
By forcing Guehi to stay for at least another four months they have not only risked further instability in a season in which they should have been aiming for progress under their most accomplished manager in years.
They have also significantly weakened their hand when it comes to a potential sale in January which, for a club operating on fine margins, damages their chances of landing the replacement they clearly need.