Marc Guehi had seemed ready to be the final jewel of the Crown of the Grand Summer of Liverpool, but the agreement failed in the last hours of the window.
The Reds submitted an offer to Crystal Palace worth 35 million pounds sterling for their skipper, but the Eagles decided not to continue the agreement when they could not secure a central replacement defender in time.
Arne Slot spoke earlier in the week of the failure of the transfer, saying: “For us, it was of course a disappointment, for the player that I also suppose, because he expected to come here.”
While Liverpool has a spotless record this season, having won each match so far, they have shown defensive fragiles. The Slot team conceded in four games out of six, and their confrontation of the Premier League opening with Bournemouth is the only match they have won by more than one goal.
Liverpool’s inability to bring another central defender currently resembles the only step of bink in their armor, and if they had managed to pass Guehi through the line, they would look completely unstoppable at the moment.
However, their central hunting can go from bad to worse, because Guehi seems to have changed their minds on the club he would like to join afterwards.
Real Madrid to compete with Liverpool for Guehi
Guehi has only one year on his Crystal Palace contract, which means that after January, any club can enter pre-contract negotiations with the central defender of England.
Many clubs would find the idea of signing Guehi on a free perspective, but Xabi Alonso and Real Madrid are one of the only teams, alongside Liverpool, which show concrete interest. Guehi’s party has been informed that the Spanish giants plan to establish negotiations with him when possible.
The mirror has now indicated that Guehi is more than tempted by this perspective and that his “number one choice is to move to the Bernabeu and Snub Liverpool”. The report continued by saying that the 25 -year -old is “excited” by the idea of playing in Spain for a club like Real Madrid.
Liverpool must already bring another central defender, but next summer, they may have to bring two, because Ibrahim Konate is at the same stage of his contract as Guehi, and Madrid also turn him, which means that the star could join Guehi in 2026.
Real Madrid also plans Trent Alexander-Arnold Repeat
Despite the introduction of the dean of Bournemouth, Huijsen, in summer for 50 million pounds sterling, Real Madrid seems to examine the major improvements to their backline with Konate and Guehi. Liverpool was in contractual negotiations with Konate, but they have not yet concluded an agreement, leaving the door open to Real Madrid to recruit it.
Guehi can be frustrated by Liverpool for having left him the candidacy so late in the window so as not to leave the time of the palace to find a replacement, which ultimately passed the transfer. This can pass to Real Madrid on a more tempting perspective because Liverpool has already dropped him.
The approach of players towards the end of their contracts is a transfer strategy that Real Madrid has implemented several times in recent years. Kylian Mbappe joined a last summer from PSG, and Liverpool lost Trent Alexander-Arnold in the same way as he joined the Spanish side in summer.
The good news for Liverpool is that they discover that they may not get Guehi and that Konate can leave early. This gives them the rest of the season to seek defensive alternatives and to act faster in the transfer window for the following summer, so as not to end up in the same situation as the day of the deadline.
