How Richard Hughes LOST Marc Guehi | OneFootball

This story really began on transfer deadline day in summer 2025.

Reports emerged that Crystal Palace had finally agreed to sell Marc Guehi to Liverpool. A bid worth an initial £35m had been accepted by the FA Cup holders for their captain.

Guehi, 25, was even reported to have concluded part of his Anfield medical - and a deal looked a formality for the England international.

The night before when Palace took on Aston Villa in the Premier League Guehi scored a stunning goal in a 3-0 away win.

That event appeared to signal his Palace farewell - with the defender’s Eagles teammates encouraging him to take the fans’ plaudits ahead of his scheduled move to Liverpool.

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By evening on deadline day many expected an imminent declaration that the Premier League champions would sign Guehi.

Following deals for Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Giovanni Leoni, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong and Giorgi Mamardashvili it looked like Richard Hughes was building a new superteam for Arne Slot and Guehi was expected to be the new defensive centrepiece.

Igor Julio scuppers Liverpool's Guehi plans

The former FIFA under-17 World Cup winner would challenge immediately for a first-team place ahead of Ibrahima Konate - whose uncertain contract situation ahead of summer 2026 mirrored Palace’s predicament over Guehi.

Liverpool would be getting him for a fraction of his true value - with Spurs only six months before having a bid of over £70m knocked back. Guehi was due to be out of contract in summer 2026 and showed no inclination to sign a new one.

Therefore Palace’s equation looked straightforward if unwelcome. Sell the captain and defensive lynchpin for £35m or lose him for nothing one year later.

And they were receptive to doing exactly that - only for a late twist to throw a spanner in the works.

The South London side were interested in adding Igor Julio on loan from Brighton - very much a tide-over signing which would keep numbers up for Oliver Glasner’s side until they reached the January window.

West Ham however scuppered those plans to sign the Brazilian - coming in at the 11th hour and snatching a loan deal from under Palace’s noses.

Julio has gone on to play FOUR times in the Premier League for the struggling Hammers - including only one start - and hasn’t featured in the top flight since November.

And this is the primary reason that Liverpool lost Guehi. Because once Julio’s deal with West Ham was ratified Palace were out of options to replace their skipper.

Man City swoop for Guehi

Club chairman Steve Parish immediately called a halt to the Guehi sale and Liverpool came away empty-handed. That failure to land Guehi has in no small part blown a hole in the Reds’ season.

Without him Arne Slot has been relying on a diminishing Konate - while Van Dijk beside him hasn’t been at his best. Leoni meanwhile was injured on debut while Joe Gomez’s ongoing struggles against injury are well-documented.

In a record-breaking transfer window it was the one deal that Liverpool didn’t conclude which looks set to define their season.

Hopes were high inside the club that Guehi would still end up at Anfield - on a free transfer in 2026. He had in effect been sold the idea of joining the champions - and even agreed a deal to go there.

But January would bring other teams into play - Manchester City were ready to offer Palace a cash deal while European superclubs like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich also had designs on signing the stopper on a free transfer.

Liverpool had lost their free run at Guehi and would have to get involved in a bidding war - both in transfer fee terms as well as for wages and signing-on fees if they wanted Guehi at the club.

© IMAGO - Marc Guehi Liverpool

Liverpool miss out on Guehi once again

However Richard Hughes has bowed out of the running with Liverpool sources reporting that the club were ADAMANT over not paying any kind of fee for Guehi and instead taking their chances at signing him on a free.

That was all the encouragement that Man City needed. Without Josko Gvardiol for the rest of the season and with John Stones and Ruben Dias out with injuries of their own Pep Guardiola made his decisive move for Guehi.

He has been using Max Alleyne and Abdukodir Khusanov as a makeshift centre-back pairing in recent games and desperately needed reinforcements.

City bosses wasted no time in putting together a £20m bid - and we are led to believe the wages are going to be between £200k and £300k per week. Other reports suggest that the Cityzens were prepared to pay Guehi a signing-on fee that would have been due had he moved on a free.

So City win and Liverpool lose - like what happened in deals for Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki and most recently Antoine Semenyo. Liverpool never saw the value in signing those players whereas City acted decisively.

Add Guehi to the list of heavily scouted players that Liverpool miss out on. The frustration is that he was no shot in the dark and no punt.

A well-established top-flight player with plenty of international experience Guehi was the ideal signing to lead the Reds’ defence into a new era.