Marc Guehi was left frustrated on deadline day after his move to Liverpool was pulled at the final moment.
The Crystal Palace captain had completed part of his medical and a tribute video had even been filmed, but chairman Steve Parish stepped in to cancel the transfer. A £35million deal was in place, only for talks to break down late in the day.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner made it clear he would not accept losing his defensive leader without a replacement. The Austrian threatened to quit if Guehi was sold and, on paper, Parish backed his manager, leaving the England international to return to Selhurst Park.
Glasner said: “We need to keep Marc if we want to play a successful season. We have an agreement that if we’re selling Marc we have the right replacement in. We wanted to have this replacement at the beginning of the pre-season.
“There’s no replacement in the building, it’s clear one part of the agreement is not fulfilled. That means we can’t sell Marc. It’s a tempting situation but if we want to progress, we have to keep him. If we sell we accept a step back.”
While it would appear Glasner’s stance blocked the move, the latest reports highlight Palace’s willingness to shift the England international much earlier in the window.
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Speaking on the Inside Track podcast, Football Insider journalist Callum O’Connell explained:
“There was one thing I found strange about that move. Liverpool sort of have to take some of the blame for it falling through, because they didn’t make a formal offer for him until two days before the deadline.
“Obviously, Palace weren’t going to be able to bring in a replacement at such short notice.
“From what I’m told on Palace side of things, they were ready to let him go in June or July.
“If Liverpool had come in with a £40million offer, they had a number of targets they were looking at.
“The problem was, by the time they got to deadline day, a lot of those targets were unavailable.
“Sporting CP’s Ousmane Diomande was a key name for them, but it wasn’t a move they could make until Guehi was sold to raise the money.
“Palace weren’t willing to spend the money before they had it and risk their financial stability.
“If Liverpool had come in earlier, they would have got the deal done.
“Instead, they delayed it until right at the end of the window, where it became impossible for Palace to find his replacement and sanction his sale.”
