Liverpool have joined the race to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi this summer, according to reports.
Who is Marc Guehi?
Guehi is an Chelsea academy graduate, but arrived at Selhurst Park in 2021 and has gone on to make 81 appearances to date. In the Premier League, the 22-year-old has started 36 out of 37 games this season and his impressive form has seen him not only receive an international call-up for England, but also significant interest from outside of SE25.
Football Transfers has credited Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United with an interest in the centre-back, while Arsenal have also since entered the running. Elsewhere, transfer insider Dean Jones has claimed that he could still remain with Roy Hodgson’s side beyond the summer, though a fourth potential suitor has now emerged in Liverpool.
Are Liverpool signing Guehi?
According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool are the latest Premier League giant to have “joined” the queue to sign Guehi ahead of the 2023/24 term. The Lilywhites, Red Devils and the Gunners are once again name-checked as admirers, with Palace believed to have placed a £50m price tag on the defender’s head.
FSG and Jurgen Klopp, however, might not “have the budget” to cough up that much money as a result of wanting to “prioritise” midfield signings. The Eagles are set to make definitive decisions surrounding the futures of their prized assets once a new long-term manager is appointed.
Liverpool have already been linked with the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt’s Evan Ndicka, RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Napoli's Kim Min-Jae at centre-back, but with Guehi being a homegrown talent and the fact he already has Premier League experience, this could make him a more suitable alternative, whether that be in a deal this summer or in the near future.
The Palace talisman ranks highly amongst his teammates in a number of defensive areas, as he is currently averaging 3.6 clearances, as well as 1.4 tackles and aerial wins per top-flight game, via WhoScored, suggesting Guehi is an integral rock at the heart of the backline, which has seen him dubbed a “leader” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig.
The Abidjan-born star, who has the flexibility to play at left-back and right-back alongside his natural position, is also capable of contributing to his team‘s efforts at the opposite end of the pitch, with six goal contributions (five goals and one assist) to his name since joining the Eagles, so he there are plenty of signs he could be an all-round ideal signing for Klopp on Merseyside.