Liverpool are preparing to make an offer for Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo with Marc Guehi’s future uncertain, according to reports.
The Reds made eight new signings in the summer transfer window as the Liverpool board threw their weight behind Arne Slot, who won the Premier League title in his first season at the club.
Liverpool brought in Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giovanni Leoni as their headline-grabbing signings of the summer.
The transfer window could have been even better for Liverpool if they had signed Guehi but Crystal Palace pulled the plug on the deal with minutes to go on deadline day.
Liverpool are likely to try to sign Guehi again but there are now likely to be other clubs involved as they look to sign the England international for free at the end of the season.
Bringing an update on the situation, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said earlier this week on the Market Madness Podcast: “At the moment, the idea of the club is not to go for Guehi in January and negotiate with Crystal Palace anymore.
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“Obviously, it is still September, so there could be injuries or other problems to make them decide to change their mind and go for Guehi in the January window.
“But, at the moment, the intention is to be competing to sign him in the summer as a free agent.
“I say there will be competition because, from what I’m told, several clubs will enter the race to try to sign Marc Guehi.
“There are clubs from England, Italy, Spain and Germany, so it’s going to be a big fight for Guehi. But I’m sure that Liverpool will be there.”
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And now Spanish website Fichajes insist that Chelsea are making a ‘push to sign’ Guehi ahead of Liverpool with the Blues looking ‘to take advantage of the opportunity to sign him’ on a free transfer.
The Chelsea hierarchy ‘hopes to convince the England international with an attractive sporting project and a return to the Champions League’.
The report adds: ‘The final decision will be up to Guehi, who will have to choose between returning to the club that trained him, joining Liverpool’s Anfield tradition, or accepting the challenge of becoming a key player at Real Madrid.’
A separate report from Fichajes insists that Liverpool are ‘ready to return’ for Barcelona centre-back Araujo with the Reds ‘monitoring the Uruguayan for some time and believe he could be a strategic reinforcement for their defence’.
Liverpool are ‘willing to put €50 million on the table’ for the Uruguay international with injury issues meaning ‘the transfer fee is no longer close to what it once was.’