Man City ‘breakthrough’ for Marc Guehi hinges on two needs being met as insider outlines reasons to wait for free agency | OneFootball

Manchester City are in a battle to convince Marc Guehi to join them now rather than picking his preferred club as a free agent in the summer, with TEAMtalk’s Dean Jones explaining what needs they must satisfy to land him.

After Man City announced the signing of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth, it’s over to Guehi to be the most in-demand player in the Premier League – if he wasn’t already. With a contract expiring at the end of the season and his established status as a player with five seasons of top-flight experience – plus 26 England caps – Guehi is ready for whatever next challenge awaits him.

It could have been Liverpool after they came close to signing him on deadline day in September, but sources soon insisted he would be judging his future with a clean slate from that point on.

Now, the expectation is that Guehi will wait to become a free agent and pick his preferred destination, but City are trying to change that, since they need defensive cover straight away.

Josko Gvardiol has joined Ruben Dias and John Stones on the treatment table, leaving City short at centre-back – an issue that could extinguish the pressure they’re trying to put on league leaders Arsenal in the title race.

But will Guehi want to join them now? TEAMtalk correspondent Jones explained everything they need to consider on our latest Facebook live broadcast.

“Marc Guehi would make a lot of money by moving as a free agent at the end of the season,” said Jones. “Obviously, that’s not the be all and end all for him. It’s also about making sure he ends up at the best club he could possibly end up at. And the chances of doing that are obviously better when you’re a free agent, so that’s when you start to get Bayern Munich and Barcelona and Real Madrid coming to the table.

“For now, he’s got the possibility of joining Manchester City because of the injuries that they’ve suffered recently. There’s a chance that he can go there.

“Now, Man City obviously were very smart around Antoine Semenyo. They managed to get him in a deal that’s slightly outside of the release clause by allowing him to stay at Bournemouth for extra games, so they’ve been able to repackage the deal that suited them in a better way.

“With Marc Guehi, from what I understand, they might have to get smart here and help him make up the money that he would get as a free agent.

“Because joining Man City’s no bad thing, even in comparison to Real Madrid and Barcelona. You join Man City this season, you could try and win the league. You could go into the World Cup as a Premier League winner rather than just as a Crystal Palace player whose future’s up in the air.

“So if City can find a way of satisfying his personal needs on a sporting level and also on an ambition level, then I think they might be able to make a breakthrough.”

Man City news: Semenyo explanation, Marmoush exit chances

Meanwhile, Semenyo has shed light on the three reasons why he chose to join City