‘Talks underway’ – Liverpool making moves for £35m powerhouse as Paul Joyce drops afternoon update | OneFootball

Liverpool have now opened talks with one of their primary transfer targets as the summer deadline draws near.

Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi has been strongly linked with a move to the Reds, who are also considering a swoop for Parma centre-back Giovanni Leoni, and Fabrizio Romano has indicated that those two prospective deals aren’t mutually exclusive.

Arne Slot is rather light on central defensive depth as things stand, with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and the currently injured Joe Gomez his only senior options in that part of the squad, although the wheels now seem to be in motion regarding potential additions this month.

Liverpool open talks with Palace over Guehi

On Tuesday afternoon, The Times‘ Paul Joyce reported that Liverpool have commenced talks with the Eagles regarding a possible move for Guehi, with the two clubs in discussions over a potential deal consisting of £30m up front and £5m in add-ons.

He shared a link to his article via X in a post which reads: ‘Talks underway between Liverpool and Palace for Guehi. Deal could potentially be around £30 million to £35 million including add-ons’.

That report was soon corroborated by David Ornstein and James Pearce for The Athletic, who added that a formal offer has yet to be made for the Eagles defender.

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Signing Guehi for £35m would be excellent business from Liverpool

If Liverpool can seal a £35m deal for Guehi before the summer transfer deadline, that’d represent excellent business on their part, even when considering that the England international is into the final year of his contract at Selhurst Park.

Previous reports had indicated that Palace wanted £40m for their captain, although the Reds are clearly hopeful of landing him for less than that, given his contractual situation in south London.

Slot had to try and compensate for the shortage at centre-back in pre-season by playing the likes of Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas and Trey Nyoni out of position, a scenario that nobody associated with LFC will want to see repeated in competitive fixtures this season.

That’s not a slight on any of the players who admirably provided cover for the team’s benefit. A club of Liverpool’s stature and wealth shouldn’t be going into a new campaign with such a shortage of options in any one area of the pitch, particularly when injuries in the coming months seem almost inevitable.

Even if the two clubs can agree on a fee for Guehi, the player will surely need to be convinced that he’ll get plenty of game-time at Anfield, especially with a World Cup on the horizon next summer.

Hopefully the Reds’ sporting director Richard Hughes can work his magic and convince the 25-year-old to join the team he helped to defeat in the Community Shield at the weekend!