Marc Guehi transfer stance doesn't add up after what Liverpool did 12 months ago

Liverpool has seemingly decided against making a late attempt to hijack Manchester City's deal for Marc Guehi in a move that will not go down well with the club's supporters

Marc Guehi is set to join Manchester City(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool has seemingly decided against a late attempt to hijack Manchester City’s transfer for Marc Guehi - although the club’s reasoning doesn’t really add up.

Despite coming so close to signing Guehi on deadline day during the summer, only for Crystal Palace to pull the plug at the eleventh hour, the defender is now set to join City, with Pep Guardiola’s side agreeing a £20 million ($27M) deal.

The deal is a tough one to take for Liverpool fans - indeed, many have been airing their frustrations on social media, and the club’s stance on the matter won’t do much to calm them down.

According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds don't see signing Guehi this month as a market opportunity compared to last September and this coming summer. As such, any late attempt to swoop in and steal him away from City looks unlikely.

It does seem a strange approach from the club, given it was willing to spend £35M ($47M) only a few months ago, and its need for a new center-back has only grown since then with Giovanni Leoni out for the season, and Joe Gomez having already suffered one injury scare.

The stance is made all the more confusing when you consider how Liverpool approached Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future 12 months ago.

Liverpool turned down an offer from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold a year ago(Image: (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images))

Like Guehi, the right-back’s contract had just entered its final few months, and though he wasn’t admitting it, the writing looked to be on the wall for a summer exit.

Real Madrid therefore chanced its arm with an offer on New Year’s Day. That was quickly rejected by Liverpool, with reports at the time suggesting that the Spanish giant was willing to pay $27M.

The Reds decided that was a derisory offer for a player of Alexander-Arnold’s standing, and one that still had an important role to play as they went for the Premier League title. It was a strong stance, and one that was backed up by pundits.

Yet, just a year later, Liverpool is in need of a new center-back, and when there’s a chance to sign an international player being courted by the likes of City, Bayern Munich and Arsenal - and is two years younger than Alexander-Arnold - it has now seemingly decided that the same amount of money would be too much to pay.

That won’t do anything to appease the Liverpool supporters, many of whom would have been expecting Guehi to sign for the Red for some time now, especially when recent reports suggested he still favored a move to Anfield over the Etihad.

With no plans to hijack City’s deal, it remains to be seen whether Liverpool will try to sign anyone else this month, although Arne Slot has already played down the possibility of new arrivals.