Manchester City agree deal for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi | OneFootball

Hugo Viana and Manchester City have agreed a deal in principle for Crystal Palace captain and England international Marc Guehi.

The breakthrough represents the culmination of weeks of intensifying developments as Pep Guardiola’s side looked to address mounting defensive issues, acting quickly once clarity emerged around both the player’s willingness and Crystal Palace’s financial threshold.

This agreement also follows a period in which City’s defensive depth was severely tested amid injuries to Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, and John Stones that had left Guardiola with limited senior options and forcing an emergency recall of Max Alleyne from a loan at Watford.

While Guardiola publicly downplayed the likelihood of January defensive signings earlier in the window, the scale of the crisis ultimately accelerated Manchester City’s market activity.

From Crystal Palace’s perspective, the situation had long been framed as a delicate balance between sporting ambition and financial responsibility. Manager Oliver Glasner repeatedly admitted that if a “massive offer” arrived and Guehi expressed a desire to leave, the club would be compelled to act.

At the same time, City had been working to overcome complications surrounding Guehi’s potential free-agent status, and previous reports indicated the defender stood to earn a significant signing-on bonus by running down his contract.

But now, according to the information of Fabrizio Romano, Crystal Palace have accepted an official proposal from City that will see their club captain make the switch to the Etihad Stadium, with a fee believed to be around £20 million.

The England international himself has reportedly accepted the move, and Marc Guehi will now become the latest figure to join the ever-developing rebuild under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Further confirmation of the deal’s advanced stage came directly from Oliver Glasner, who revealed that Guehi would not be included in Crystal Palace’s squad for their away trip to Sunderland this weekend, describing the City transfer as being in the “final stages”.

The agreed fee is notable in the context of previous reporting, with earlier lines indicating that Palace were thought to be seeking figures closer to £30 million, while Manchester City were reluctant to exceed valuations for a player with only months remaining on his contract.

For Pep Guardiola, Marc Guehi now represents a defender capable of making an instant impact being Premier League-proven, tactically intelligent, and an established England international offering both composure and leadership at the heart of defence.

Attention will now turn to the final administrative steps such as a medical, contract formalities, and official confirmation from both clubs – which appears to be imminent given the speed of developments across the last 24 hours.

Should a deal be finalised, Marc Guehi to Manchester City would take January spending at the Etihad Stadium up to around £85 million following the signing of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth for around £62.5 million.

Guehi’s move to Manchester City will also come as a major blow to some of European football’s biggest clubs, after Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Arsenal all showed serious interest in the player through various levels of contact in recent weeks and months.