Liverpool and Chelsea should both bear Marc Guehi in mind after a report revealed the Reds are among several top European clubs pushing to sign a Blues ‘untouchable’ this summer.
As Guehi looks to nail down his spot at the heart of Thomas Tuchel’s defence for the World Cup in the upcoming England internationals after swapping Crystal Palace for Manchester City in January, Liverpool and Chelsea will be reflecting on their respective blunders with regard to the centre-back.
After impressing on loan at Swansea, rather than giving Guehi a chance to stake his claim for a place in the first team at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea opted to sell him to Palace for £20m in the summer of 2021.
MAILBOX: Mo Salah is no Luis Suarez; the Liverpool fan verdict is in
He made just two appearances for his boyhood club, who have swapped inferior defenders in and out of their starting XI for the majority of the time since his departure.
Liverpool have been counting the cost of sleeping on the summer signing of Guehi for most of this season. Both Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have been consistently inconsistent and genuinely terrible at times, contributing to a limp title defence which would have been strengthened significantly by them getting the deadline deal for Guehi over the line.
The Reds did sign Giovanni Leoni from Parma, who looked promising in his one and only appearance before suffering a season-ending injury, and further bolstered their defence by securing the signing of Jeremy Jacquet ahead of Chelsea in January ahead of his summer arrival. But CaughtOffside claim they’re also ‘closely monitoring the progress’ of Blues star Josh Acheampong.
After making his debut only last season, Acheampong is already valued at over £20m after some hugely promising displays for Chelsea both at right-back and centre-back having broken through from the academy.
Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle are also thought to be keen on the 19-year-old, whose physical and technical attributes have made him a hot property.
Standing at 1.9m tall, Acheampong has displayed his quality through line-breaking passes and his ability to run with the ball at his feet.
The report claims Real Madrid see Acheampong as a ‘long-term addition’ as they ‘prioritise young talent capable of evolving into leadership roles’ and while it’s added that the Chelsea hierarchy view him as ‘untouchable’, BlueCo have so far proven themselves more than willing to consider offers of almost any value when pure profit is in the offing through the sale of academy products.
Journalist Ekrem Konur claimed earlier this week that Acheampong, who’s made 24 appearances this season, ‘wants to leave due to a lack of playing time’ and whether that is the case or not Chelsea should be looking to offer him an improved contract as a matter of urgency with the teenager currently on just £5000 per week.
While Chelsea should be desperate to avoid a Guehi repeat, so too should Liverpool as they look to failsafe their defensive future amid uncertainty over Konate as his extension offer remains unsigned and Van Dijk as the Reds legend nears a natural conclusion to his time at Anfield.
