Real Madrid could target Marc Guéhi after failed Liverpool transfer

The late collapse of Marc Guéhi’s deadline-day move from Crystal Palace to Liverpool could open the door for Real Madrid to sign the England defender next summer.

With a £35m fee agreed, a medical completed and a deal sheet submitted to the Premier League in advance of the 7pm deadline, Guéhi appeared Anfield-bound early on Monday night.

But Palace’s inability to land a suitable replacement – West Ham gazumped a deal for Brighton’s Igor Julio, while an anticipated move the AC Milan defender Strahinja Pavlović failed to materialise – led to tension behind the scenes at Selhurst Park.

Why Oliver Glasner opposed Marc Guéhi’s transfer to Liverpool

Oliver Glasner, the Palace manager, has consistently voiced his opposition to selling the club captain, insisting that Guéhi could not depart without a successor of similar profile in place. 

He is understood to have doubled down on that stance in discussions with Steve Parish, the club chairman, who admitted after Palace’s Community Shield win over Liverpool last month that Guéhi might have to be sold to avoid the defender leaving for nothing when his contract expires next summer.

With Glasner’s contract also set to end next year, Parish relented, perhaps fearful that he could end up losing both a star player and the most successful manager in the club’s history. But his decision to call off the move could have significant implications for Guéhi’s future.

Why Madrid could target Guéhi ahead of Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté

It is no secret that Real Madrid are likely to be in the market for a defender next summer. The club has been consistently linked with a move for France international Ibrahima Konaté, whose Liverpool contract expires at the end of next June.

Should Konaté’s recent mixed form continue, however, Madrid’s attention could instead turn to Guéhi, who will likewise be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club come January.

That the Abidjan-born Guéhi holds an Ivory Coast passport will make the possibility of such a move all the more appealing to Madrid. Under the terms of the Cotonou Agreement, an accord between the EU and the Association of African, Caribbean and Pacific states signed in 2000, African players are effectively classed as EU citizens.

As the holder of an Ivorian passport, Guéhi would not count as one of the three non-EU players to which Spanish sides are limited each match day under La Liga rules.

It remains to be seen whether the unrelenting scrutiny that is part and parcel of life at the Bernabéu would appeal to Guéhi, given his evident distaste for the glare of publicity.

“I don’t like the limelight,” the defender, who has also been linked with Barcelona, said after scoring in Palace’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday. “When you focus on what is important, the football, it makes it a bit easier.”

Whatever his disappointment at missing out on a move to Liverpool that he had made plain he wanted, Guéhi will have his pick of top clubs next summer unless Palace can overcome his reluctance to sign a new contract, or Liverpool return to the negotiating table in January.