Marc Guehi transfer truth is clear with Liverpool in need of bigger fix

Given that Liverpool almost signed Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day, it is easy to wonder what might have happened had that deal gotten over the line.

What if Crystal Palace had found a replacement and allowed its captain to depart? Liverpool was willing to pay a substantial fee to sign Guehi, but could now return for him on a free in 2026. Bayern Munich and others, reports in Germany say, could provide competition.

But while Guehi would have been a good option for Liverpool in the window just gone, and he has impressed several times against the Reds, it is far too simple to suggest that he would have been the fix of all their ills.

Indeed, if Liverpool does end up signing the England international, it will not be a simple plug-and-play solution to the defensive problems that Arne Slot's side is facing.

For one thing, the way that Crystal Palace plays means that Guehi is not competing for aerial duels as often as he would at Anfield. He is not having to deal with an onslaught of long throws and set-pieces, because teams don't target that as an Eagles weakness.

In contrast, Liverpool is so good at every other element of the game — at least when it is at its best — that opponents have pinpointed the best way to get the better of Slot's men: go direct.

The Dutchman admitted as much in a recent press conference, conceding that Liverpool has to find a way of getting better at defending those situations. At the moment, it is a cheat code for three points.

Guehi, though, is 12 centimeters shorter than Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. Last season, he won just 54 per cent of the aerial duels that he contested (Van Dijk and Konate, for comparison, were at around 72 per cent).

It is fair to question whether some of the issues that Liverpool is facing at the moment are down to physicality — none of the full-backs are tall, for example, and Florian Wirtz has made the midfield department less rigid. But Guehi, in that sense, won't help.

That is not to say that the 25-year-old wouldn't be a good signing, however. Guehi was of interest to Liverpool despite his relative lack of height and there is a strong case that the Reds' defensive struggles are not a personnel issue, but a tactical problem.

Regardless of height and physicality, Liverpool allowed Dango Ouattara far too much space to open the scoring for Brentford. Albeit with a completely changed team, there was a parting of the Red Sea to allow Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr to net a brace.

While Guehi coming in at some point in 2026 still makes sense, the simple fact is that Liverpool needs a bigger change even than a new face in its backline to stop shipping goals.

Somehow, Slot needs to find a way of making the whole structure of the team more solid and stable or a new center-back will fall down the same holes.

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