‘Ultimate professional’ has reportedly promised to join Liverpool as Real Madrid rumours quashed | OneFootball

One player who’s been hailed as the ‘ultimate professional’ has reportedly promised to sign for Liverpool, with rumours of interest from Real Madrid being dismissed.

Amid a spendthrift summer transfer window on Merseyside, there was still a significant ‘one that got away’ as Marc Guehi’s proposed switch from Crystal Palace collapsed right at the end of deadline day.

The Eagles defender is into the final eight months of his contract at Selhurst Park, and speculation over his future has refused to go away throughout the autumn, with Oliver Glasner publicly admitting that the 25-year-old ‘will leave next year’.

Guehi has ‘given his word’ to join Liverpool

In his latest Liverpool Confidential roundup for Mail Sport, Lewis Steele addressed where exactly things currently stand with the England international.

He reported: ‘Reds target Marc Guehi – the Crystal Palace captain who was nearly a Liverpool player on deadline day – has been linked with Real Madrid over a free transfer next summer. The Spanish club have played down those reports.

‘Guehi remains on Liverpool’s list for a future signing – we have already debated whether that should be in January or the summer – and sources in Madrid reckon he has given his word to join the Premier League champions.’

(Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Could Guehi finally join Liverpool in 2026?

LFC fans might take any reports surrounding the Palace skipper with a pinch of salt after the sudden collapse of his deadline day transfer to Anfield, but it appears that his interest in such a move hasn’t diminished.

Last month, Dean Jones claimed (via TEAMtalk) that Guehi ‘is still interested’ in playing for the Reds, and that seemingly remains the case if he’s ‘given his word’ to join Arne Slot’s side in 2026.

Despite the defender’s apparent promise, Liverpool would still need to be wary of prospective interest from overseas clubs who’d be able to sign him on a pre-contract agreement from January onwards.

However, with Alan Shearer labelling the 25-year-old as the ‘ultimate professional‘ for not attempting to push through an exit from Palace over the summer, it’d seem that the Eagles captain is a man of integrity, and not someone to renege on an apparent verbal agreement.

Scepticism will naturally remain until such time that Guehi is pictured at Anfield signing a contract in the colours of LFC, but if the reports from Spain are accurate, there seems a plausible chance that he could finally get his long-awaited move to Merseyside in the foreseeable future.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Real Madrid press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: