FSG believe Marc Guehi WILL join Liverpool and Arne Slot wants ANOTHER €80m defender – report | OneFootball

Liverpool believe that Marc Guehi will end up at Anfield in 2026, according to a report, which has named the Sporting CP central defender that Reds manager Arne Slot is also eyeing.

It has been well-documented how close Guehi came to joining Liverpool in the summer transfer window. Sources have told TEAMtalk that the Crystal Palace star is the defending Premier League champions’ number one centre-back target in 2026.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner has already publicly said that Guehi will leave as a free agent at the end of the season.

Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United are among the clubs that have shown interest in Guehi lately, with the England international’s status as a free agent next summer hugely appealing to the aforementioned clubs.

However, according to The Daily Mail journalist, Lewis Steele, Guehi ‘has given his word to join’ Liverpool next summer.

That report has been further backed by a Liverpool-centric news outlet, which has reported that the Merseyside club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), are confident of getting a deal done for the 25-year-old centre-back.

According to DaveOKop, ‘Liverpool still believes Guehi will eventually become a Reds player’.

The report has also claimed that Liverpool manager Arne Slot wants another centre-back, with Sporting CP star Ousmane Diomande a target for the Reds.

Diomande is ‘under consideration’ at Liverpool, with the club’s recruitment staff having been hugely impressed with him.

DaveOKop is the second source to have claimed Liverpool’s interest in Diomande, with a Spanish report revealing last month that the Reds have taken a shine to the 21-year-old Ivory Coast international centre-back, who has a release clause of €80m (£69.5m, $92.8m) in his contract at Sporting CP.

According to DaveOKop, Diomande is behind Nico Schlotterbeck in the pecking order for Liverpool in terms of signing a new centre-back after Guehi.

While Schlotterbeck ‘is more of an ideal option for Arne Slot’, Liverpool could end up signing the Borussia Dortmund defender as well as Diomande, if Konate leaves and Guehi does not join.

It seems that Liverpool are keeping all their options open and are not putting all their eggs in one basket.

Giovanni Leoni joined Liverpool from Parma in the summer of 2025, but he will be on the sidelines for the long term with an ACL injury.

Moreover, Leoni is only 18 and is one for the future, so there is a case to be made that Liverpool need to sign two senior centre-backs in 2026 should Konate leave.

While Virgil van Dijk remains a solid defender even in his mid-30s, he cannot go on forever, and Joe Gomez has always been a squad player at best for Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Liverpool could swoop in for a star as Newcastle United are delayed in their quest to keep him at the club in the long run.