Whether it’s in January or next summer, Marc Guehi will be leaving Crystal Palace in the not-so-distant future. If he had it his way, he would have left in the summer, but it wasn’t to be, and he’s remained a key player for the FA Cup and Community Shield winners.
The 25-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the season, so with one of England’s first choice centre-backs potentially leaving on a free, clubs in the Premier League and Europe have been heavily linked with a move.
Liverpool have been tipped to reignite their interest in January while clubs on the continent can negotiate a pre-agreement in the new year. Here we rank his five most likely destinations.
5. Barcelona
Plagued by seemingly never-ending financial issues, the Catalan club are unsurprisingly in for Guehi, hoping to sign a world class defender for a pittance, it’s just not really a priority position for them at the moment.
In all honest, it’s hard to find a weakness in Hansi Flick’s side. Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araujo are a centre-back partnership more than capable of dominating La Liga and doing well against harder opposition in the Champions League.
Barcelona will likely be focusing all of their attention a little further up the pitch, with Robert Lewandowki set to leave once his contract expires at the end of the season. They simply can’t have a busy transfer window, so that’s where they’ll be sinking most of their cash.
4. Chelsea
A return to the club that made him would be the most romantic option. Chelsea sold him to Crystal Palace for £18 million back in 2021 when they probably should have kept him, he would be an improvement on their current options.
The only real issue here is that Chelsea aren’t particularly interested in signing Guehi despite the fact he would walk into their starting eleven, ahead of the likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, and Tosin Adarabioyo.
Guehi is also right on the brink of being too old for Chelsea. They have a policy of not signing players over 25 unless they see it as a market opportunity, which they don’t seem to believe Guehi is.
3. Real Madrid
It was a relatively drama free summer transfer window for Real Madrid, addressing areas that needed addressing, like right back, left back and centre back, while also adding a cheeky wonderkid. About what you’d expect.
Despite essentially signing an entire new defence, Xabi Alonso’s side are still in the market for a new centre-back, with Antonio Rudiger's future unknown and David Alaba and Eder Militao’s constant injury issues.
It’s been widely reported that William Saliba was the dream target, but he’s just signed a new contract. Guehi is now on the shortlist alongside Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano, and we reckon the Palace man would be the better option of the three.
2. Bayern Munich
The German giants are probably the best side in the world at the moment. Harry Kane is having the time of his life, and Vincent Kompany has them solid at the back, only conceding eight Bundesliga goals.
Still, Upamencano’s future is up in the air, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, also. Talks are ongoing over a new deal, but there hasn’t been anything concrete, and as we mentioned, Real Madrid are sniffing.
Guehi would fit in almost seamlessly alongside Jonathan Tah, in fact that could be the best defensive partnership in Europe given time. The Englishman would be competing for every trophy on offer too.
1. Liverpool
There’s a reason they nearly signed him in the summer. It feels weird to say a club that just spent nearly half a billion pounds on new players need to spend more money, but if Liverpool’s start to the season is anything to go by, they do.
Konate is another player who will be out of contract at the end of the season, and he’s playing like his head is elsewhere and Virgil van Dijk is finally starting to look like a human. At the moment, Guehi would be an improvement on both.
Guehi would also be in a good position to take over from captain when Van Dijk does eventually leave or retire, plus he gets to stay in the most competitive league in the world. A move to Anfield still makes the most sense.