Liverpool Miss Out on Guehí as he Signs for Man City

Liverpool need cover in defence. There can be no real argument against that, when you consider the fact that we have three senior centre-backs and one of them is Joe Gomez, whose time at Anfield has been plagued by injuries.

When Ibrahima Konaté’s form fell through the floor earlier in the season, Arne Slot had little choice but to continue playing the Frenchman, unsure that Gomez could stand up to the rigours of three games a week.

At the end of the previous transfer window, it looked as if a deal for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehí had been arranged, but that fell through and now the Eagles’ captain is set to join Man City.

What Happened in the Summer

Supporters of Liverpool had spent the summer saying that the Reds needed to sign at least one centre-back, which was not a claim that was assuaged by the arrival of promising youngster Giovanni Leoni from Parma. The rumour mill suggested that Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehí was the one that the club was after, but no move for the defender appeared to be forthcoming. Then, on Deadline Day, news emerged that a deal had been struck between the Merseyside club and the Selhurst Park outfit, with a fee of £35 million reported by the press. Given permission to undergo a medical for Liverpool, it seemed as though they had got their man.

@lfcmyatt This could turn into a right saga #guehi #liverpool #LFC #transfers #football ♬ original sound – LFCMyatt

Trouble emerged, however, in the form of Palace’s manager, Oliver Glasner. It seemed that Glasner effectively told Steve Parish, the club’s Chairman, that if Guehí left, then he would too. Glasner had made clear that he would only accept the departure of his captain if another player came in instead, but one target in Manuel Akanji decided to join Inter Milan, whilst another, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Igor Julio, went to West Ham United instead. The clubs did submit a deal sheet to the Premier League, giving them some more time after the deadline to sort a deal out, but it was dead in the water and Guehí remained at Selhurst Park.

Is it Such a Bad Thing for Liverpool?

Whilst there is no question that Liverpool need a central defender, there are more than a few supporters of the club who had concerns about the idea of it being Marc Guehí who ended up at Anfield. I have never pulled my punches around my concerns at the idea of the club adding him to our roster, given the decision of the defender to write ‘Jesus loves you’ on the rainbow laces armband that he was asked to wear, having written ‘I love Jesus’ on the armband a week before. In fact, my concerns around what message signing him would send to the LGBTQ+ community resulted in me all but trending on Twitter, resulting in a homophobic diatribe from Joey Barton.

Guehi to City then.

Good.

Sound lads only please.

— TheCenci (@thecenci.bsky.social) 16 January 2026 at 13:17

Although many have tied themselves in knots suggesting that there was nothing wrong with him writing the message, displaying his Christian beliefs and saying himself that it was one of ‘love and inclusion’, I’m not sure there is any interpretation of the move that is anything other than attacking the LGBTQ+ community. This is something that his own father, to whom he is extremely close, all but confirmed when he said that Guehí did it to ‘balance the message’ and that he didn’t ‘believe in the message’. When you consider that the message of the Rainbow Laces campaign is to say that LGBTQ+ people are welcome in football, you have to ask what ‘balance’ looks like if it isn’t to say ‘no, they don’t’.

Where that Leaves the Reds

Whilst many supporters, myself included, are pleased to say that Guehí won’t end up at Anfield any time soon, that doesn’t mean that we’re all happy enough with the defensive options that the Reds have available to them moving forward. Personally, I think it is ludicrous of Liverpool to attempt to complete the season with only three fit senior centre-backs, given what is still available for us to accomplish. The club is still in the FA Cup and is currently occupying one of the Champions League positions for 2026-2027, whilst we remain in contention to win that competition itself if a few different things happen to break our way between now and May.

In a footballing sense, Manchester City will be stronger thanks to the signing of the Crystal Palace captain, but I still believe that at some point there will be repercussions for the club over the 130 charges that they’ve been hit with. The job of Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards is to look after Liverpool, not worry about what’s going on at the Etihad, so options around a centre-back should be explored. Believe it or not, a defender who appeared to make a homophobic gesture isn’t the only one that we can bring to Anfield, with Joel Ordonez of Brugge being linked as just one example. We need to bring someone in, but it’s fine that Guehí won’t be that man.

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