Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has confessed he ultimately opted to pull out of negotiations with Liverpool over centre back Marc Guéhi after deciding that keeping the England international was worth more than his price tag.
Palace and Liverpool had agreed a £35 million ($46.7 million) fee to take Guéhi to Anfield during the summer and the defender even underwent a medical with Arne Slot’s side, only for Palace to pull the plug on the deal at the 11th hour. It had initially been suggested that Oliver Glasner was the defining factor in Guéhi’s stay as the manager reportedly threatened to quit were he to see his captain leave the club without a suitable replacement.
Parish knew the risk he was taking by ultimately opting to keep a player who is in the final year of his contract. Guéhi is now widely expected to leave on a free transfer next summer, when Liverpool are set to battle the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid for his signature.
Losing out on a £35 million transfer fee is an obvious blow for Palace, but Parish argued the club stands to earn even more money if Guéhi can lead them to impressive finishes in both the Premier League and Conference League.
“It’s a difficult decision,” he told talkSPORT. “It’s as simple as that. These things are never black and white.
“I decided in the end that, based on the advice that I got and with what I think, that we would have a better season if we kept Marc.
“We don’t guess about these things. If you look at it rationally, if you look at what it’s worth, the place in the Premier League, the fact that we’re in the Conference League for the first time in our history, this is a fairly unusual set of circumstances in which to keep a player.
“If we were fighting between the difference of 10th and 14th, if that was going to be the difference between keeping Marc and letting Marc go, then probably we would have said right, ‘We should take the money.’”
Reports have suggested Liverpool will not try to sign Guéhi again once the January transfer window opens and will instead wait to try and sign him on a free transfer. However, doing so would hand an advantage to fellow suitors Barcelona and Real Madrid, who can make contact as early as January thanks to FIFA rules.
Guéhi, for his part, is focused on the season with Palace, confident he can earn a spot in England’s World Cup squad next summer before deciding on his next move.
Be the first to comment