Marc Guehi says Man City transfer was “God’s plan” after dramatic collapse of Liverpool move | OneFootball

Having almost signed for Liverpool last year, Marc Guehi has attributed his eventual move to Manchester City in January to fate.

The 25-year-old was on the cusp of joining the Reds at the end of the summer transfer window and was even close to finishing his medical when Crystal Palace pulled the plug on the £35m deal which had been agreed between the two clubs.

Little more than four months later, the England defender left Selhurst Park for the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola’s side secured him for just £20m (BBC Sport), with the Eagles accepting the offer for a player whose contract in south London was rapidly expiring.

Those sliding-doors moments will add an extra spice when Guehi goes to Anfield on Sunday as Man City take on Liverpool, with the centre-back frequenting the away dressing room when he could so easily have been in the home one.

Guehi says Man City transfer was “God’s plan”

Ahead of the match, the 25-year-old claimed that his fate was taken out of his own hands and would eventually be decided by the footballing gods.

He told Sky Sports: “I said in previous interviews, it wasn’t really up to me. It was God’s plan, and God’s plan has come to full fruition. I’m just looking forward to the game, against tough opposition, in a great environment, and we’ll be doing our best to get a win.”

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Guehi’s comments stoke the flames ahead of Anfield showdown

Guehi’s comments won’t exactly wash with Liverpool fans who had to watch on in horror as his proposed move to Anfield last year collapsed dramatically.

While it isn’t his fault that Palace intervened at the 11th hour on that fateful deadline day, or that LFC decided not to go back in for him in January, it makes previous reports of him only wanting a move to Merseyside now seem rather hollow.

The sense of regret for Reds supporters still lingers and will be exacerbated when he lines out in a Man City shirt in L4 on Sunday, but we can’t rewind the clock and change the past, or allow ourselves to be consumed by a self-pitying sense of what might’ve been.

Instead, we must get behind every single Liverpool player at Anfield and trust in those who are representing the home side to rise to the occasion and come away with a positive result to turbo-charge our ambitions to achieve Champions League qualification.

The season has been littered by defefensive injury issues in Arne Slot’s squad, but barring any cruel plot twists between now and 4:30 tomorrow, we’ll have our customary centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate primed and ready to deal with anything the visitors can throw at them!

You can watch Slot’s full pre-Manchester City press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: