Manchester City are interested in signing Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace, but they will face competition from Arsenal. Arsenal will name England star
Arsenal are ready to enter the race to sign England defender Marc Guehi.
Manchester City are now the frontrunners to sign the Crystal Palace captain after making a major push to finalize a deal this month. But Arsenal join Liverpool and Bayern Munich in having a genuine interest in the 25-year-old, who becomes a free agent this summer.
It remains to be seen whether Arsenal will accept a bid or wait until the summer when Gehi’s contract expires. However, Arsenal were interested in Guehi last summer and have since decided to go in a different direction, signing Spanish prospect Cristian Mosquera from Valencia, while Piero Hincapie also joined from Bayer Leverkusen.
However, Arsenal remain big fans and there will be no shortage of signings among Europe’s top clubs if Gehi decides to stay at Palace for the final six months of his contract and then leaves on a free transfer.
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He will also need a huge offer from City to convince Palace to sell him this month, even though he is out of contract. Liverpool accepted an offer of £35m plus a further £5m last summer but were unable to get a deal over the line on transfer deadline day.
City have lost key defenders Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias to injury, and with John Stones also sidelined, Palace know they could reap a similar reward in January. Palace will have to consider the potential value of keeping Guehi, as the club still remains in Europe, with the FA Cup ahead and ambitions to reach European status.
That means he could end up asking around £40m, which will test City’s resolve, but any club looking to sign him now will know that Gehi could sign an even bigger deal in the summer as a free agent.
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City will have to pay huge wages and high transfer fees, which means that while they are in the box seat, other clubs will be watching with interest for potential current or future signings.
There remains uncertainty over Josep Guardiola’s long-term future, but Enzo Maresca, who has been floated as a possible replacement, had hoped Chelsea would push to re-sign Guehi during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool remain interested, but Bayern Munich’s interest is incredibly strong, with manager Vincent Kompany also a big fan, and Harry Kane will likely try hard to bring his England team-mate to Germany.
Arsenal might think it would be OK to use Guehi on a free transfer in the summer due to his versatility, even though they have a solid defensive line-up with William Saliba and Gabriel among the Premier League’s best defenders.
But Arsenal showed last summer, with sporting director Andrea Berta at the forefront, that they are ambitious in the market and want strong competition in all departments. Signing perhaps England’s best defender on a free transfer would be a huge opportunity, one that Arsenal would also be keen on.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Palace boss Oliver Glassner said of Guehi this week. “If you just value the sport, everyone at the club will say that Marc should stay. The chairman will say the same thing. But it’s not one-sided.
“Nothing in life is one-dimensional, so it’s very important to look at the financial situation. Everyone wants him to play for Crystal Palace, sign a new contract and stay here forever. We want him to play for Crystal Palace.”
“Everyone will say that. On the other hand, we have a situation where the contract ends in the summer, and if someone comes in, there will be a moment when the club says that the financial issue is more important than the sporting issue right now. I’m not so naive that I don’t know that if a huge offer comes from City and Marc wants it, it will happen.”
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