Liverpool initially wanted to pay under £30 million, but according to FlashScore, it is now ready to go up. So far, they’ve been playing hardball in negotiations considering Guehi is just entering the final year of his contract.
The Anfield powers are desperate to avoid entering next year due to the threat of increasing competition. As a result, they are willing to approach Crystal Palace’s £40 million valuation of £45 million.
Liverpool will almost certainly face resistance from Eagles manager Oliver Glasner.
Liverpool reportedly decided to sign Mark Guech ahead of Monday’s deadline, even if it means paying more than originally expected. The governing Premier League champions link to Guech through the window, but have not signed a contract with Crystal Palace. They are also interested in signing Alexander Isaac, who is eager to leave Newcastle.
Discussions with Crystal Palace have been underway for several weeks, but Liverpool is struggling to find a breakthrough. They are said to believe Guehi is the ideal person to partner with Virgil Van Dijk and replace Ibrahima Konate, who has been attracting attention from Real Madrid. They are reportedly set to change their strategy to sign England International before the windows close.
Earlier this week, he said:
“He has to do that because at this point I can’t find a replacement for Mark Guech who can play straight (away) in the Premier League.
“We have seen the foundation of success over the last few months and the foundation of getting into the group stage (of conference leagues) is our defense.
“We had two clean sheets against Fredrikstad and we played five games with three clean sheets. This is our foundation as we only acknowledged one goal in the Premier League. The mark is an important part.
“He is a captain and an international in the UK, and he has the most Premier League experience in the entire back.
Crystal Palace is looking for a potential alternative, and Manuel Akanji is among the players linked to. Club president Steve Parish recently admitted that he might be forced to sell Guehi rather than risk losing him for anything.
“It’s a difficult situation and everyone has to sell their players to follow the rules,” the parish admitted. “That’s a situation we’ll have to see in the next few days.”
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