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Manchester City find themselves in a defensive crisis with Ruben Dias, John Stones and Josko Gvardiol all out for a significant period
Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has insisted Marc Guehi will be sold in the January transfer window to Manchester City, or another club, if a sizeable offer is submitted before the deadline. City find themselves in a defensive crisis with three starting centre-backs injured for the time being.
Ruben Dias, John Stones and Josko Gvardiol are all absent which meant the unlikely pairing of Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne started at centre-back on Wednesday night vs Brighton with Nathan Ake moved to left-back to allow Nico O'Reilly a rest. While the makeshift defensive pairing did well for the most part, further options are needed.
One solution for Pep Guardiola would be to delve into the transfer market with Guehi understood to be of interest to the Blues. The England international almost signed for Liverpool on deadline day but Palace's failure to secure a replacement in time meant the deal fell through.
Shortly afterwards, Glasner confirmed Guehi would be leaving Selhurst Park when his contract expires at the end of the season. This has put clubs on high alert, and while the 25-year-old could sign a pre-contract with a club outside England this month, City would need to splash the cash to bring him to the Etihad Stadium before the end of the season.
After Guehi helped Palace to a clean sheet against Aston Villa on Wednesday, Glasner insisted the defender could leave in January if the club deemed the bid to be sufficient. "If the offer would have been high enough [last summer] and the club was fine with it and Marc wanted to go, then he wouldn't be a Palace player anymore," the Austrian said.
"Last January would have been the same. Every single player has a price where a club will sell him, especially when you are Palace, because we are not at the end of the food chain in football.
"I think Marc will stay but if he says ‘I want to stay’ and a club pays massive money with five months left of contract, then any player would leave if you are a club like Palace. I’m sure our chairman will ask a very high price for him, let’s see.
"I don’t know if Marc wants to leave. Right now, when I see him playing, training, his commitment, we are talking quite often together. I think the fans can be calm. But you never know what can happen in football."
In other transfer news, Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo is expected to become a City player before the Blues are next in action against Exeter in the FA Cup third round. The Ghanaian scored a last minute winner for the Cherries on Wednesday night as they beat Tottenham 3-2 on the south coast.
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