Vieira: Guéhi is a ‘dream player’ to manage

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Manchester City F.C.

·30 de janeiro de 2026

Vieira: Guéhi is a ‘dream player’ to manage

Patrick Vieira believes City have signed a ‘dream player’ in Marc Guéhi and someone who will star for the Blues for the next decade.

Vieira signed Guéhi for Crystal Palace from Chelsea in 2021 five days after his 21st birthday, subsequently handing him his Premier League debut at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of that first campaign with the Eagles.

Vídeos OneFootball

He’s gone from strength to strength since and earned a move to the Etihad this past month arriving on a five-and-a-half year deal.

Vieira is not surprised to see the classy central defender flourishing and believes his former club have signed a consummate professional.

“I think City have signed a top defender for the next 10 years,” the Frenchman told us.

“And they have signed a really good person as well, and I know how important it is for City not just to sign a good player, but a good human being, a good person and someone who is really professional. And I think Mark has all these qualities.

SHOP THE MARC GUÉHI RANGE

“I think Mark is a dream player for a manager. Because you can interact with him, you can exchange ideas, and you can have a proper conversation, that can be a tactical side, or it can be something away from football.

“He is always concentrated, he’s always focussed, and he wants to improve himself, and he wants to challenge himself. And I think this is the quality that managers love about players.

“For Mark himself, I think it will be really hard to find a better place than Manchester City. I think he’s going to be surrounded by top international players, top defenders, and I think he will raise his quality of game and that will improve him as a player as well.

“And, of course, having the chance to work with one of the most successful managers ever, I think everything is there for him to be a top, top player in the years coming.

“I think it would be difficult to find a better club than Man City for Mark. So when I saw the news, I was quite really happy for him, because I think he deserved to be in a place like that, so he can express his talent and his quality.”

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But what did Vieira see in a young Guéhi five years ago when he got to work with the emerging starlet on the Palace training ground.

“It was his leadership. He’s not really vocal, but he has this calmness about him that gives belief and confidence and calmness to players around him.

“And he’s really composed, doesn’t show his emotions, he really controls himself, and I think this is a really good quality for a player at that level.

“I also think when you sign players nowadays, you’re looking at availability. And Marc’s availability was fantastic.

“I think he’s a player who don’t get injured because he’s a real professional and looks after himself really well.

“He’s coming hours before training, and he’s leaving later after training, and he’s a real professional, and what really caught my eye was that Mark didn’t want to play just one game, he didn’t want it to make one year career.

“He’s looking after himself to be at the top level, at a high level for the next 15 years.

“And he really understands what he has to do today for tomorrow. And that’s why I think the move to Manchester City is coming at the right time for him to keep developing himself and challenging himself.”

Now a Blue, Guéhi will be eyeing Champions League football at City.

Vieira believes the standards required in the UCL are elite but insists Guéhi has the talent, tenacity and thoughtfulness to hit those levels.

“I think moving from Palace to City, he has to raise the quality of his concentration,” he continued.

“He still has a lot to learn because in the Champions League football the demand is higher. And I think that will make him an even better player.

“Mark is somebody who will look at the players around him training, focussing on the details, and that will make him improve because he’s a guy that is really focussed on wanting to learn.

“So I know that his eyes will be wide open and he will learn from all those top players that will be around him.

“And that will be a challenge for him, but an exciting moment for him as a player.”

Guéhi was the skipper at Selhurst Park before his arrival in Manchester.

City currently have a leadership group consisting of Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodri and Erling Haaland.

But what of Guéhi’s chances of having the armband one day.

“We don’t know what the future will bring,” added Vieira.

“But he has the quality to be a leader. In terms of wearing the armband, you don’t need an armband to take responsibility on the field.

“What will be important is to have the respect from the other players and to have this kind of respect, you need to conduct yourself well, and this is what he does.

“And he will win all the players over around him because of who he is as a person.

“He has the quality to be a leader, to be a captain, but the future will dictate that, but it is a really good match, I would say for Manchester City, regarding the profile of players that they’re looking for and Marc because of who he is as a person and what is his ambition, I think that will match really, really well.”