{"id":406228,"date":"2025-09-07T21:42:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T21:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/406228\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T21:42:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T21:42:16","slug":"city-and-liverpool-in-five-way-battle-for-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/406228\/","title":{"rendered":"City and Liverpool in five way battle for star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester City and Liverpool are poised to go head-to-head for Marc Guehi, with Europe\u2019s giants also circling ahead of the January transfer window. The Daily Star<\/a> Sunday revealed City\u2019s interest in the Crystal Palace captain two weeks ago, although Pep Guardiola\u2019s side only planned a move if Manuel Akanji or Nathan Ake departed. Eventually, Akanji joined Inter Milan on loan for \u00a313 million, leaving Guehi\u2019s future in limbo.<\/p>\n

Palace Stand Firm on Star Defender<\/p>\n

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish blocked a \u00a335 million switch to Liverpool before deadline day. It was a bold stance, reflecting both Guehi\u2019s importance to Palace and his leadership role at Selhurst Park. The defender, 25, continues to grow in stature, scoring a wondergoal in Palace\u2019s 3-0 win against Aston Villa last weekend.<\/p>\n

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\"\"Photo IMAGO<\/p>\n

City insiders maintained there was little belief Guehi would leave before the summer, but Liverpool remain confident they are still favourites. Like City, they hope Palace might accept a reduced fee in January, with the England international edging closer to free agency in the summer.<\/p>\n

European Interest Intensifies<\/p>\n

The competition is not limited to the Premier League. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are all monitoring Guehi\u2019s situation. With his contract running down, interest from Europe\u2019s elite is unsurprising. For Palace, the prospect of losing their captain for nothing next summer will weigh heavily in the coming months.<\/p>\n

England Recognition and Attitude<\/p>\n

Guehi continues to impress on the international stage. In England\u2019s 2-0 win over Andorra, he played 76 minutes before being replaced by Ezri Konsa. Manager Thomas Tuchel praised his professionalism, saying the defender had dealt with the collapse of his Liverpool transfer with a \u201cbrilliant attitude\u201d. Tuchel added: \u201cHe has continued like that in camp and he handles it [his transfer situation] with respect and with a brilliant attitude. He is the main driver of Crystal Palace\u2019s success, the captain and the leader, and he played very impressively at the end of last season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s pursuit will be relentless, but their rivals will not make this chase straightforward.<\/p>\n

Liverpool fans will read this report with a mixture of excitement and nerves. Excitement because Guehi looks like the kind of defender who could anchor the backline for years, bringing leadership and composure that would suit Anfield. Nerves because the competition is fierce, and when Real Madrid and Bayern Munich enter the conversation, Liverpool supporters have seen before how such sagas can end.<\/p>\n

Arne Slot has made clear that defensive stability underpins his plans, and Guehi would be an upgrade on several current options. For many supporters, the frustration lies in knowing Liverpool were close to a deal already, only for Steve Parish to pull the plug. \u201cIf we had moved quicker, he\u2019d already be ours,\u201d one fan might argue.<\/p>\n

There is also the financial question. Supporters will wonder whether FSG will back Slot in January or risk waiting until Guehi is free in the summer, a gamble that could see another giant steal in. With memories of losing players to rivals still raw, fans are expectant but also sceptical. Guehi feels like a perfect fit, yet until he pulls on the red shirt, the uncertainty will overshadow the optimism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester City and Liverpool are poised to go head-to-head for Marc Guehi, with Europe\u2019s giants also circling ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[1121,102,199,1062,748,1925,393,50024,1123,4884,8883,9816,179,886,2697,1037,101,9431,544,138051,30143,6573,100,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-406228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-arne-slot","9":"tag-aston-villa","10":"tag-barcelona","11":"tag-bayern-munich","12":"tag-britain","13":"tag-crystal-palace","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-england-national-team","16":"tag-featured","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-inter-milan","19":"tag-january-transfer-window","20":"tag-liverpool","21":"tag-manchester-city","22":"tag-marc-guehi","23":"tag-pep-guardiola","24":"tag-premier-league","25":"tag-premier-league-transfers","26":"tag-real-madrid","27":"tag-selhurst-park","28":"tag-steve-parish","29":"tag-thomas-tuchel","30":"tag-transfer-news","31":"tag-uk","32":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115165196698141928","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}