Liverpool have missed out on the £35million signing of Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi after Eagles head coach Oliver Glasner won his transfer battle with CEO Steve Parish
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner won his transfer battle with CEO Steve Parish as Marc Guehi’s £35million move to Liverpool was cancelled at the 11th hour – by threatening to QUIT if his captain was sold.
The England international had undergone a medical in London after Palace agreed a fee with Liverpool to send him to Merseyside. The Premier League champions hoped to announce him as part of a £160m deadline day double deal – taking their spending this summer to over £450m – alongside Alexander Isak.
But despite everything being agreed between all parties and even a deal sheet being handed in to the Premier League shortly before Monday’s 7pm deadline – giving until 9pm for the move to be fully ratified – Palace chief Parish pulled the plug, having been outplayed by his head coach.
READ MORE: Marc Guehi to Liverpool transfer COLLAPSES as Crystal Palace boss intervenesREAD MORE: Every Premier League transfer on deadline day as Man Utd and Chelsea confirm deals
Palace have been dealing with the massive conundrum in that Glasner – who has led the club to FA Cup success and a major European competition for the first time in their history – has been opposed to selling his captain from the start. The Austrian values Guehi both as a player and a dressing room leader and has spoken out about his keenness to keep hold of the England centre-back.
Throughout the summer, Glasner has spoken at length of his steadfast in opposition to selling. Even after a fee had been agreed on Sunday he played Guehi in the 3-0 win at Aston Villa – in which Guehi scored a wonderful goal – before speaking about the importance of keeping him, reiterating what he had said three days previously.
For his part, Parish has spoken about the club owing money on players who have arrived at Selhurst Park in recent years, and his belief that it would be financially irresponsible to NOT sell Guehi if their valuation was met – something Liverpool duly did.
But Glasner’s desire not to sell was further emboldened recently by the £68m sale of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal. And while he tentatively agreed that a deal for Guehi could happen if TWO replacements arrived on deadline day, at no point did he believe one of sufficient quality would be arriving. Igor Julio was lined up to join on loan from Brighton but that fell through and while Jaydee Canvot joined from Toulouse for a potential £23m Glasner sees him as a project rather than an immediate starter.
On Monday afternoon, Glasner spoke to Guehi, who has been a model professional throughout, and outlined his desire to keep him for the season. Guehi understood, wanted to leave but again insisted he wouldn’t kick up a fuss, knowing Liverpool will still be there in January, at a reduced rate, or next summer when he’s a free agent
Combined that all gave Palace chiefs a conundrum to deal with – which was further exacerbated by Bayer Leverkusen’s decision to sack Erik ten Hag after just two league matches. That led to fears that a move back to the Bundesliga could well be on the cards for Glasner.
He did tremendous work at Eintracht Frankfurt, winning the Europa League, and Leverkusen bosses are under big pressure to make a statement appointment that appeases supporters after making a big noise about the arrival of ex-Manchester United manager Ten Hag, before quickly realising he was an ill fit. The Austrian fits the bill in that regard and an opportunity to join a Champions League club could well be too good to turn down – particularly if not backed over Guehi.
Emboldened, he threatened to walk out on the club if Guehi was sold out from under him.
And when the time came, the Palace chief backed down over the transfer and showed how highly he rates his head coach – choosing him over a £35m windfall he believes the Eagles badly needed.
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