Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has confirmed that club captain Marc Guehi will not sign a new contract, and he will leave Selhurst Park next year. The 26 year-old's deal expires on June 30, 2026, when he can leave the Eagles on a free transfer. Many of Europe's elite clubs are interested, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona reportedly chasing him.
Guehi in high demand with Europe's elite clubs
The England international will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club when the January transfer window opens, giving teams on the continent a leg up over domestic suitors. That could prompt Liverpool to rekindle their interest and offer a fee for Guehi. Back in the summer transfer window, Guehi was close to joining the Reds for a fee of £35 million ($47m), however Palace chairman Steve Parish pulled the plug hours before the deadline as the Eagles could not find a suitable replacement. According to a report by , Palace are unlikely to allow Guehi to leave for a cut price deal in the winter window.
AdvertisementAFPGlasner: 'The club wanted Guehi to stay'
Glasner shared the news that Guehi will leave at a press conference on Friday. While the Austrian made it clear that he and the club's leadership wanted the 26-year-old to stay, they were not caught out by his desire to leave the club.
"I think Marc has already told us that he doesn't sign a new contract, so he will leave next year," said Glasner. "The club wanted [him to stay]. They offered Marc a new contract. But he said, 'no, I want to make something different'. And that's normal.
"And for us, it's how we can deal with this situation? [What] is the best way to get this next step done? And that's all about how we are talking together."
Parish explains thinking behind Guehi saga
Parish's decision to block Guehi's Liverpool move at the last minute could be deemed short-sighted. By reneging on the deal, he basically allowed Guehi to walk away for free in 2026, with everyone at the club more or less aware that he would be unwilling to sign a new deal. The Eagles' chairman explained his decision-making in a recent interview with .
"It's a difficult decision," he said. "It's as simple as that these things are never black and white. I decided in the end that, based on the advice that I got and also with what I think, that we would have a better season if we kept Marc. We don't guess about these things.
"If you look at it rationally, if you look at what is worth the place in the Premier League, the fact that we're in the Conference League for the first time in our history, this is a fairly unusual set of circumstances in which to keep a player. If we were fighting between the difference of 10th and 14th, if that was going to be the difference between keeping Marc and letting Marc go, then probably we would have said; 'Right, we should take the money'."
Getty Images SportEuropean giants in the box seat for Guehi?
This news confirms what we knew all along, and Guehi is now the most sought-after defensive player available on the market. Every major European club will be interested in speaking to him over the coming months with a view to a free transfer.
Guehi's insistence on honouring his deal with Palace, and the club's reticence to let him go in a cut-rate transfer in January, could well have shunted Liverpool to the back of the pecking order, despite how close the two parties came to a deal.
Real Madrid have been savvy in snapping up out-of-contract stars over the past few years. Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger and Trent Alexander-Arnold have all joined Los Blancos after their deals with their respective clubs were running out. With the Spanish giants expected to pursue a centre back in the near future, they could become a real player in Guehi's future.
Liverpool's current defensive woes could pressure them into lodging another bid in January, however unlikely it is to come off, just to stave off the interest of Madrid, Bayern and Barcelona. The Reds have been fragile at the back, an issue that has been further compounded by the season-long injury to 19-year-old Giovanni Leoni. The Italian was supposed to provide additional cover for Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, however he has undergone surgery to rectify a serious knee problem. With Konate also out of contract in the summer, and a reported target of Real Madrid himself, how the Reds manage their defensive personnel going forward should be fascinating.