Oliver Glasner has made it clear he wants to keep Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace in January despite the England defender being out of contract at the end of the season and refusing to sign an extension
Oliver Glasner has reinforced his determination to retain Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace in January. The England international’s contract expires at the end of the season and he has already told the Eagles he won’t be penning a new deal.
Liverpool were poised to secure the centre-half during the summer, but Palace pulled the plug on a £35m deal at the final moment on deadline day after being unable to bring in a replacement.
The Reds maintain their interest in the 25-year-old, who becomes eligible to negotiate a pre-contract with foreign clubs from January 1, though they’ll encounter fierce competition if they pursue the defender on a free transfer.
Glasner was instrumental in Palace blocking Guehi’s switch to Liverpool during the summer following discussions with chairman Steve Parish.
With the January transfer window set to open later this week, the Austrian has made his position crystal clear regarding his skipper’s future at Selhurst Park, reports the Liverpool Echo.
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“Of course we want to keep everyone,” he stated bluntly after Palace’s defeat to Spurs when questioned about the club’s plans for Guehi in January.
When quizzed about whether Palace will pursue reinforcements in January, Glasner, who had previously expressed his disappointment with the club’s restricted summer transfer activity, responded: “Let’s see… Everybody can be proud (of our year) but for me, it feels like we are not really far away from being really constantly in these areas (in the league table, competing in Europe and challenging for trophies).
“But to be honest, little things we are missing that are important to stay where we are.”
Glasner, who confirmed back in October that Guehi would not be penning fresh terms with the club, had earlier disclosed that he anticipated the defender would complete the campaign at Crystal Palace.
“I think Marc will stay until the end of the season,” he informed journalists on Wednesday when discussing his team’s Conference League clash against Finnish outfit Kuopion Palloseura earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Liverpool boss Arne Slot recently dismissed speculation about the Reds bringing in a new centre-back in January despite losing Joe Gomez to a hamstring problem, having already seen Giovanni Leoni sidelined for the campaign following surgery on an ACL injury.
“First of all for himself but the injury of Giovanni Leoni is, of course, it has quite a lot of impact,” Slot said earlier this month.
“If you have four centre backs for the season, two right and two left backs with Wata (Wataru Endo) and Ryan (Gravenberch) who can help you out, but then you have an ACL injury, that is not very helpful. It is tough.
“And unfortunately Joe is now out of the squad. In a season, these moments for most teams happen. Some teams have so many (options) but most other teams do not.
“This is our way of working at Liverpool. The outside world wants to believe we have unlimited money but that is not true.
“You insiders know – and you are the only ones because the outside world only talks about our spending – what we have brought in (money) to spend. “That is the way we work over here. You then have to accept that in certain games during a season you are short of a right full back.
“But we are still able to win. I fully believe in that way of working, by the way.”
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