Crystal Palace manager, Oliver Glasner, has confirmed that the club is open to selling their captain, Marc Guehi. However, this would only happen if his asking price is met during this month's transfer window.
Guehi's contract with Crystal Palace expires in the summer. As such, Manchester City has emerged as a potential buyer for the England defender. This interest comes after injuries to two of City's defenders - Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias - during Sunday's draw against Chelsea.
Last summer, Crystal Palace blocked a proposed £35m move for Guehi to Liverpool. However, they now risk losing him for nothing at the end of this season if no deal is reached.
Crystal Palace manager, Oliver Glasner, said:
"I'm not naive. If a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen. If you're just valuing sports, everyone in the club will say Marc has to stay. The chairman will tell you the same. But it's not one-dimensional. If you see the financial situation, it's very important.
"If somebody comes, there will be a moment when the club says 'now the financial issue is more important than the sports issue'. There will be a threshold where the club has to say it will happen - as long as Marc says 'I want to leave', because the final decision is always with the player."
Interest from top European clubs
Several top European clubs have shown interest in signing Guehi on a free transfer. These include Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid. From this month onwards he can sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club.
Marc Guehi has been instrumental in some of Crystal Palace’s recent successes. He helped them finish 12th last season and win the FA Cup which qualified them for Europe – marking their first time in history achieving such a feat.
Oliver Glasner added:
"The chairman rejected many offers in the summer because we want to play a successful season and wanted to win the Community Shield. Therefore, Marc is important, and then he rejected the offer.
"The threshold at that time, the money we got offered was not above it. Maybe it was close, but it was not above.".
Following these achievements was another victory when they won the Community Shield in August by beating Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties. Currently sitting 14th on Premier League table standings and having advanced through to knockout phase playoffs in Uefa Conference League shows how valuable he is to his team. The coming weeks will undoubtedly be crucial as we wait to see if any club will meet the asking price for this talented defender.
