Manchester City win race for Marc Guehi after late January push | OneFootball

Manchester City have completed the £20m signing of Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace on a deal to 2031, moving despite widespread expectation he would wait until summer. According to The Athletic, City accelerated negotiations to see off rivals in England and abroad.

City are understood to have paid a significant agent commission and inserted a sell-on clause believed to be 10 percent for Palace, with wages agreed below the £300,000 per week initially sought. A January agreement had looked unlikely until a breakthrough with Palace on Thursday.

Guehi, 25, had been content to finish his contract after a proposed move to Liverpool collapsed in September. Liverpool decided against a January bid and planned to revisit in summer 2026, while Bayern Munich made a strong summer pitch, aided by Harry Kane and Michael Olise making contact. Spain was not realistic, with Real Madrid stepping back and Barcelona and Atletico Madrid unable to afford him.

Oliver Glasner was told around 10:30am on Friday that a sale was likely and had hoped to use his captain at Sunderland, but Guehi informed him he did not want to play. The manager later expressed frustration with the timing following the 2-1 defeat.

City view Guehi as a long-term cornerstone who boosts their homegrown quota and eases an injury backlog, with Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones sidelined. Stones is likely to depart on a free in the summer, effectively making Guehi his successor. Although ineligible for the remaining Champions League group games, he could debut against Wolves on Saturday.

Source: NY Times