Marc Guehi remains a Crystal Palace player after his Deadline Day move to Liverpool collapsed.
Palace and Liverpool had agreed a £35m deal for Guehi following his man-of-the-match performance in the win at Aston Villa on Sunday and he was given permission to undergo a medical in London.
A deal sheet was then submitted to the Premier League to take the Guehi negotiations beyond Monday’s 7pm deadline – but Palace then ultimately decided not to sell.
What could the fallout be for Palace’s manager, captain and owner? Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol and Rob Dorsett explain…
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Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool will be disappointed with missing out on Guehi but says Alexander Isak was more important
Parish had a decision to make
Kaveh Solhekol
Deadline Days are usually nerve-wracking but this was a particularly tense and stressful one for Crystal Palace. With time running out, chairman Steve Parish had a big decision to make – sell his captain to Liverpool for £35m or risk losing him for nothing next summer. In the end, Parish felt he had to do what was in the best interests of his club and that is why he made the decision to call off Guehi’s move to Liverpool.
After Liverpool had been told the deal was off, it was time to call his manager Oliver Glasner. Glasner had been outspoken about why Palace could not afford to sell Guehi and in the end he got what he wanted. Next, it was time to tell Guehi in face-to-face talks that the deal was off and it is fair to say the player was disappointed with the way things had turned out. He had not been agitating for a move earlier in the summer, but when Liverpool came in for him it was a move he wanted to make.
The move would have gone through if Palace had been able to sign a centre-back who could slot into the side in place of Guehi. Glasner was willing to accept a player like Manuel Akanji but he ended up moving to Inter Milan and when moves for other targets got nowhere, Parish felt he had to act in the best interests of Palace.
Palace did sign 19-year-old Jaydee Canvot from Toulouse for £23m. He is one of the most promising young centre-backs in Europe, but he is not the finished article yet and someone with more experience was needed as well.
The move would also have certainly happened if Liverpool had been willing to increase their offer. Liverpool were unwilling to bid against themselves and had no intention of offering more than £35m.
Talks about a move only started when the two sides played each other at Wembley in the Community Shield on August 10. Liverpool wanted Guehi but they were not willing to pay above £35m for a player who will be a free agent next summer.
Guehi upset at failed move – but situation ‘impossible’ for Palace
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Guehi scored a stunning goal against Aston Villa on Sunday – watch here
Rob Dorsett
Palace were looking at options. Glasner was clear that he doesn’t think Canvot covers a Guehi-sized hole in his squad.
They tried for Akanji, and they thought they had a solution in Igor Julio. He was in the building, he was having a medical, and then there were delays with Guehi and suggestions he might be returning to Crystal Palace.
Igor got cold feet at that point, because he had been told he’d be playing a lot of football and would be one of the first names on the team-sheet at Palace in Guehi’s absence. Igor’s team had concerns that if Guehi didn’t go, that might affect him. He’s played very little football for six months at Brighton and wanted to get minutes.
Igor then decided at the last minute to go to West Ham. Remember, West Ham had to put a deal sheet in to get his signing over the line, so it was very late in the day for them to make the switch.
I have a lot of sympathy for Palace here, knowing they have one of their best players, their talisman, their captain, who is worth an awful lot more than £35m, potentially leaving for nothing next summer. Or they sell him, get £35m for the club, and upset Glasner.
In the end it’s Guehi who is very upset having missed out on his dream move to Liverpool and the circumstances in which it happened. I’ve been told he was actually in the medical scanner, undergoing his Liverpool medical, when he was told the deal was off.
It was an impossible situation for Steve Parish too.
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Take a look back at what was an eventful Deadline Day which saw drama throughout
My understanding is that Guehi didn’t want to go to Tottenham or Newcastle in the winter window – Spurs were in real trouble in the Premier League at the time and Guehi wants to be in the Champions League and challenging for trophies.
He wasn’t sure about Newcastle either. It’s difficult for Palace in that scenario, if a player doesn’t want to go and they missed out on a possible £65-70m as a result.
It’s been a complicated situation for Palace for a long time now, but ultimately they’ve lost out on a big, big asset who we expect to leave for nothing next summer.
That’s difficult for Palace fans to stomach, but it was a no-win for them either way it turned out.
What next for Parish and Glasner?
Liverpool made a bid worth £35m for Marc Guehi
Kaveh Solhekol
It’s fair to say Parish and Glasner had some frank exchanges of views about Guehi. They discussed the implications of selling him on Saturday and on Monday Glasner decided to pass on some of the potential replacements which were put in front of him.
With time running out, Parish felt he had no other option but to call the deal off. With Eberechi Eze gone and Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton injured, he could not risk undermining his manager by selling one of the best centre-backs in the world in the final hours of the window. Glasner was relieved when he was told his captain was staying. Parish made what he thought was the best decision for the club and it was the decision his manager wanted him to make.
Like Guehi, Glasner is out of contract next summer and at the moment it is looking unlikely that he will sign a new deal. Palace are in four competitions and one of the big priorities is now going to be on winning the Conference League so that they can qualify for Europe again next season.
It’s not going to be easy, but it can’t be ruled out when you have an elite defender and captain of the calibre of Guehi – at least until January.
What now for Glasner and Guehi?
Guehi captained Palace against Aston Villa on Sunday
Rob Dorsett
I’ve been told there is now a strained relationship between Oliver Glasner and Marc Guehi. Guehi is convinced Glasner had a big part to play in his failure to move to Liverpool.
Guehi did want to go to Liverpool and feels that has been taken away. But the difference is that he’s such a good character, that he won’t agitate or sulk. He will do what he’s always done for Palace, which is serve them for the remainder of his contract and remain professional.
It’s been made clear to me some of the biggest clubs in Europe are interested in him, and he can talk to them in January ahead of what is likely to be a big window for him next summer.