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Glasner Wins Guehi Transfer Standoff as Liverpool Left Empty-Handed

What unfolded on deadline day between Liverpool and Crystal Palace over Marc Guehi was less a negotiation and more a game of brinkmanship. In the end, it was Oliver Glasner, Palace’s Austrian manager, who emerged with the prize he coveted most: his captain remains in south London for at least another year.

Palace rejected Liverpool’s £35 million bid, a fee that would have injected much-needed funds into the club. Instead, they face losing Guehi for free next summer when his contract expires. The short-term sporting benefit outweighed the long-term financial hit, with Glasner insistent that Guehi’s leadership is vital for the club’s Premier League campaign.

For Palace chairman Steve Parish, the collapse of the deal leaves a significant hole in the club’s balance sheet. While Eberechi Eze’s £60m transfer and rising television revenues soften the blow, replacing Guehi in 2025 without a transfer fee will be a formidable task. Glasner, who himself has less than a year left on his contract, has been outspoken about the club’s lack of recruitment this summer — keeping Guehi at least stabilizes the squad in the short term.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are left to ponder a defensive puzzle. Ibrahima Konaté’s injury against Arsenal, Virgil van Dijk’s advancing age, and the inexperience of Giovanni Leoni, 18, mean that the club’s back line feels one body short. Guehi was earmarked not only as a partner to Van Dijk but also as a possible long-term successor. Liverpool’s pursuit had been 12 months in the making, stretching back to when they monitored him during last season’s strong campaign.

For Guehi, frustration is inevitable. The England international had prepared for a high-profile switch, even undergoing a medical in anticipation of joining the Premier League champions. Yet in footballing terms, remaining at Selhurst Park ensures regular minutes in a World Cup year — something far from guaranteed at Anfield. More crucially, his status as a free agent next summer places him in a rare and powerful position. European heavyweights and Premier League giants alike are circling, aware that signing Guehi on a free will significantly inflate his personal earnings.

This saga may have denied Guehi a Liverpool move in 2024, but in many respects, it has enhanced his leverage for 2025.

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