Marc Guehi transfer claims rejected by Crystal Palace manager

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has rejected a number of claims around Marc Guehi’s failed move to Liverpool, including that he threatened to resign if he was sold.

Glasner was widely reported to have told Palace chairman Steve Parish that he would leave the club if Guehi was sold on deadline day.

That came after a £35 million deal was agreed with Liverpool, only for the London side to pull out after the initial 7pm deadline had passed.

Liverpool are now left to wait until next summer – or January if their situation changes – to revisit their interest in the England centre-back.

But speaking to journalists on Friday, Glasner took the opportunity to present his side of the story.

“Crystal Palace fans deserve to really hear how it was. So many things were written,” he told reporters at a press conference.

“Number one: I never threatened to leave the club. Never.

“Two: at the end of many discussions, the chairman asked me, ‘Oliver, do you think we can manage the season if we sell Marc?’.

“I said, ‘Steve, honestly, we can’t manage it in the short term’.

“‘If we buy a fantastic young 19-year-old with about 1,000 minutes in Ligue 1, and sell our captain with thousands of minutes in the Premier League, we can’t manage it short term’.

“‘Then [if we sell Marc] we have three centre-backs, and if we get an injury to the back three, it’s very, very risky.

“‘[I told him]: ‘If you want this scenario and you are fine with it, then sell Marc. If you don’t want this situation, then we keep him’.

“Then he decided to keep him. Big credit to the chairman. I didn’t have to threaten anybody.

“There was no tension between me and the chairman; it was a discussion about football. Big credit to him for deciding against the money and sticking with the sporting project.”

Guehi has resumed training with Palace after scoring his first goal for England during the international break, and is likely to start against Sunderland on Saturday.

“Big credit to Marc, who handled it very well,” Glasner continued.

“We talked on deadline day, and we talked the day after deadline day when he was already in the England camp.

“It was honest talks. He will remain our captain as long as he’s here. He’s a great player and personality. The truth is what I told you now. Palace fans deserve to know how it is.”

Liverpool’s interest will not end, however, with the player into the final year of his contract and therefore available on a free transfer in the summer.

The Telegraph‘s Chris Bascombe reports that the champions expect Guehi to join at the end of the season, though there will be no new approach in January as things stand.

Injuries may change this, of course, but at this stage Liverpool are confident of beating other clubs to his signature on July 1 having already agreed personal terms and conducted a medical on deadline day.

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