Manchester City’s stance on Max Alleyne with Marc Guehi transfer close to completion | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City as a whole remain huge admirers of Max Alleyne, despite their insistence on signing Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.

City have reached an agreement to sign Guehi for £20 million next week, with the England international set to sign a five-and-a-half year deal at the Etihad Stadium as he enters the final six months of his contract at Selhurst Park.

Palace will insert a sell-on clause in Guehi’s Manchester City contract, with the Blues seeing off stiff competition from Liverpool and Arsenal to pull off a second major mid-season coup – having also signed Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth last week.

Guehi was initially understood to be keen on honouring the remainder of his Crystal Palace contract – which is due to expire in the summer – when the Ivory Coast-born defender would be due a major signing-on bonus at his next club.

Additionally, it was understood that the Chelsea academy graduate preferred joining one of Liverpool or Arsenal over Manchester City, having come desperately close to a £25 million transfer to Anfield last summer.

However, Manchester City progressed their pursuit of the 25-year-old in the wake of injuries to Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea earlier this month, forcing club officials to intensify talks with Palace and convince Guehi of joining forces with Pep Guardiola.

Guehi was open to joining Manchester City and will be earning around £300,000-per-week at the Etihad Stadium, which will put him within the club’s top 10 earners as he plugs a major loophole for the Blues amid their chase for silverware on multiple fronts.

Executives at the Etihad Stadium are reportedly elated by their shrewd transfer business, holding a belief that they have secured a player who would be worth £80 million in a general market for a cut-price fee.

City are reaching decision time over the future of their backline, with John Stones and Nathan Ake widely expected to be shown the door at the end of the season. However, questions have been raised over the prospects of academy star Max Alleyne beyond this summer after City’s recent agreement with Palace for Guehi.

Alleyne was recalled by Manchester City from loan at Watford after Dias and Gvardiol dropped to the sidelines, with the 20-year-old going on to start and impress thrice in the last two weeks – against Brighton, Exeter City and Newcastle.

Speaking in a recent transfer update, Fabrizio Romano clarified that Guardiola is ‘very happy’ with Alleyne, who is considered a huge talent at the club and those within the Etihad Stadium are also very happy with the player.

Alleyne is expected to become a permanent first-team member next season as Manchester City progress in their revolution under sporting director Hugo Viana, which orchestrated a major squad rebuild last summer – and has brokered the arrivals of Semenyo and Guehi for an impressive combined transfer fee of £84 million in January.