Oliver Glasner gives Liverpool transfer hope after changing tune on Marc Guehi

Liverpool could revive its interest in Marc Guehi this month after Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner softened his stance on a January exit, with the England defender out of contract in the summer after a bid was rejected last year

Oliver Glasner has spoken on Marc Guehi's future(Image: Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)

When Liverpool's £35 million ($47.2 million) deadline day bid for Marc Guehi was thwarted at the last minute by Crystal Palace last summer, it was anticipated that the England international would finish the season at Selhurst Park.

Indeed, Oliver Glasner only recently confirmed his expectation for his captain to see out the season with the Eagles. However, things can shift rapidly, and now that the January transfer window is open, this determination may be put to the test.

Guehi's contract expires at the end of the season, and he has already informed Palace that he will not be renewing his contract. A number of clubs, including Liverpool, are lining up to sign him on a free transfer once his current deal ends.

Manchester City is one such club. It was reported last month that Guehi had been added to City's list of summer transfer targets. However, recent reports suggest that Pep Guardiola's side might expedite plans to sign the defender this month following injuries to both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias in Sunday's draw with Chelsea.

BBC Sport reported on Monday that a mid-season move for Guehi is not being ruled out at the Etihad, with club officials waiting to learn the full extent of the Gvardiol and Dias injuries before making a final decision. It has since been confirmed that the former has fractured his shinbone and will undergo surgery later this week.

City is already stretched thin at center-back with John Stones on the sidelines, and he's also facing the end of his contract this season. Meanwhile, Nathan Ake has found himself relegated to the periphery, while Abdukodir Khusanov has only recently recovered from his own injury setback.

Marc Guehi could still join Liverpool this month(Image: Getty Images)

Only time will reveal whether City will pursue Guehi this month, and if the Manchester club does, whether such a move might prompt Liverpool into action as well.

Glasner had previously remained resolute that he didn't wish to part with his captain in January, delivering a forthright response to that effect after Palace's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur when questioned about the club's plans for Guehi in January. Nevertheless, his stance appeared to ease somewhat before Palace's New Year's Day encounter with Fulham as he acknowledged that anything might unfold once the transfer window reopened.

"Tomorrow starts the next crazy month in football," he said last week. "And I don't know, I've experienced so many different situations. The next 31 days will be everything is possible, like always, and everything I say today might be wrong in two days.

"And I think most of what I say today will be definitely wrong by the end of the transfer window, because I don't know, and that's why I don't really care about it, especially I don't want to talk about it in public. Everything I say today might be wrong. That's why the best thing is say nothing.

"You will ask me all these questions again and again and again. I need to find one answer. I will always tell you the same, as long as I don't know anything else. Because, believe me, if I knew something. I would tell you. So I don't know what's going on.

"I don't know what will happen with Marc. I don't know what will happen with new players, and I don't know what will happen with JP [Jean-Philippe Mateta], I don't know anything."

As Palace prepares to welcome Aston Villa on Wednesday, in a fixture that ironically mirrors what was expected to be Guehi's final appearance for the club last summer, Glasner is likely to face more probing about his captain's future.

And with the transfer window staying open until 2 February, such transfer chatter is unlikely to die down anytime soon, especially with clubs like Liverpool keeping a keen eye on proceedings.