Guehi Speaks Out on Collapsed Liverpool Deal as Reds Find Solace in U21 Thriller

Marc Guehi has broken his silence on the transfer saga that almost saw him swap Crystal Palace for Liverpool last summer, revealing that the move collapsed after he had already completed his medical. Speaking for the first time about the episode, the England defender said Palace withdrew consent “at the eleventh hour,” leaving him to honour his contract at Selhurst Park with professionalism rather than protest.

While contemporaries have agitated for exits—Alexander Isak recently went on strike to force a record switch from Newcastle to Anfield—Guehi opted for a low-key approach. “Showing up every day and giving everything in training was the least I could do,” he said, stressing that “throwing a tantrum would have been a massive disservice” to the club that gave him a Premier League platform.

Palace’s resistance proved temporary. When Manchester City tabled an offer in January, the London club relented, allowing Guehi to sign a five-and-a-half-year deal at the Etihad. The 24-year-old immediately rewarded Guardiola’s faith, keeping a clean sheet in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, a result that ended a winless league run stretching back to the turn of the year. City had previously been held by Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton, and beaten by Manchester United; the victory trims Arsenal’s lead at the summit to four points after the Gunners’ 3-2 loss to United on Sunday.

Guehi’s arrival is perfectly timed. Ruben Dias, Joško Gvardiol and John Stones are all sidelined—Gvardiol long-term, Dias for “several weeks,” while Stones faces months out with a thigh injury and enters the final months of his contract. Ironically, it was Stones who spent much of the autumn persuading his international teammate to join City, conversations that may now accelerate the end of Stones’ own spell in Manchester.

Across the Pennines, Liverpool’s hierarchy may lament what might have been, but the academy offered a morale boost on Merseyside. In Premier League 2 Matchday 17, the U21s twice came from behind to defeat Tottenham 4-2 at the club’s Kirkby complex. Wilson’s early opener for Spurs was cancelled out by Morrison, and after P. Cissé had edged the hosts ahead, Cassanova restored parity at 2-2. With the contest drifting toward a draw, W. Wright struck twice in the closing moments—an 86th-minute finish from Pecsi’s pass and a stoppage-time effort set up by Morrison—to lift Barry Lewtas’ side into fourth place and leave Tottenham ninth.

The win underlines a growing belief that Liverpool’s next generation could ease the sting of near-misses in the senior market, even as Guehi’s revelations reopen questions about what might have been.