Marc Guehi failure is embarrassing for Liverpool - Richard Hughes is playing with fire

Marc Guehi is set to join Manchester City, just four months on from being on the verge of signing for Liverpool in what is a hugely embarrassing situation for the Reds

Marc Guehi is set to join Manchester City after being on the verge of signing for Liverpool in the summer(Image: Getty Images)

How on earth has Liverpool let Marc Guehi slip through its fingers?

Just over four months ago, the defender was already underway with his medical, he was about to put pen to paper, and Crystal Palace had a farewell video ready to roll. Then, all of a sudden, the plug was pulled at the eleventh hour.

These things happen. At the very least, the Reds had an advantage - Guehi knew they wanted him, and by all accounts, he wanted a move to Anfield. The fact that he’s now set to move to Manchester City is an embarrassment for the club.

Let’s get one thing clear — Liverpool needing a new center-back is not a new development. It has been the case for over a year now, perhaps even since Jurgen Klopp was still in charge. Yet, here we are, watching the one player who should have been heading to Merseyside make his way to a direct rival instead.

The whole situation has been handled horribly. Why it was left until deadline day to get a deal over the line for Guehi, considering Jarell Quansah had been offloaded two months beforehand, is baffling, and then Liverpool allowed Palace to dictate matters.

By plenty of accounts, Oliver Glasner was a huge factor in the Eagles not letting Guehi go. The Austrian has now confirmed he’ll be leaving Selhurst Park at the end of the season - what’s more, he’s revealed he told Palace chairman Steve Parish of his decision just a month after the rug was pulled out from under Liverpool.

Oliver Glasner seemed to play a big role in Marc Guehi's move to Liverpool being called off(Image: Daniel Chesterton/Offside via Getty Images)

As Glasner himself has said this month, every club has its price — so why didn’t Liverpool seemingly realize that? Palace is about to take around $20 million less than it would have gotten just a few months ago. Would it really have been too much to ask for the Reds to just bump up their bid a bit and leave Palace no other option?

Or better yet, why not recognize that $27M is still something of a bargain in January, especially after a summer in which extortionate amounts of money have been paid for players for whom the jury is still out?

According to the Liverpool Echo, the club doesn’t regard signing Guehi this month as a market opportunity compared to last September and this coming summer. That only raises more questions about the previous approach.

Was it an attempt at a panic buy? And why does the club not see signing an international defender that is attracting interest from City, Bayern Munich, and Arsenal for nearly half the price as an opportunity?

Richard Hughes got plenty of plaudits for his business in the summer, but he’s playing with fire now. It looks more than likely that Arne Slot will be navigating the rest of the season, with Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup commitments to deal with, with just a 34-year-old Virgil van Dijk, an injury-prone Joe Gomez, and Ibrahima Konate, who might not even be here in a few months, and isn’t all that reliable injury-wise either.

Slot has already had to change the way his side plays this season, taking a more defensive approach because his back four has been struggling. Imagine if either Van Dijk or Konate were to pick up an injury between now and the end of the season - what would the Liverpool boss do then?

Signing Guehi was the obvious solution at a time when the Reds’ season hangs in the balance, with a top-four finish far from a certainty. To let him join City without so much as a fight is embarrassing, and Hughes and co need to have something else up their sleeve now.