Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has revealed that the club’s historic debut in Europe was behind their decision to block captain Marc Guehi’s dream move to Liverpool. The Premier League champions signed the England defender’s £35m deal from Palace on transfer deadline day.
Guehi was cleared to complete a medical check in London on September 1st. But the Eagles’ bid to sign a replacement collapsed after Brighton star Igor Julio opted to spend a loan spell at West Ham rather than move to Selhurst Park. That night, reports emerged that Palace manager Oliver Glasner, who was determined to keep Guehi, had threatened to resign if his star player left south London. A proposed move to Anfield has since been scrapped and Liverpool now expect the 25-year-old to return next summer when he is available as a free agent.
Parish has now revealed that the FA Cup winner’s first trip to Europe was a key factor in Guehi’s choice to stay, with Guehi having the right to discuss terms with overseas clubs from January 1 regarding pre-contractual agreements.
“It’s a difficult decision,” Parrish told talkSPORT. “It’s as simple as these things are never black and white.
“In the end, based on the advice I received and my own thoughts, I decided that we would have a better season if we kept Marc.
“We’re not speculating on these things. If you think about it rationally, is it worth it to stay in the Premier League? Given the fact that we’re in the Conference League for the first time in our history, this is a very unusual situation to keep a player.”
“If we were fighting between 10th and 14th place and that was the difference between keeping Marc and letting him go, we would probably say, ‘Yes, we should take the money.’
