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Oliver Glasner expects Marc Guehi to line up for Crystal Palace in its season opener at Chelsea on Sunday - but admitted there were no guarantees the defender would be staying at the club.
Liverpool has been in talks with Palace over signing the 25-year-old center-back, who is into the final 12 months of his contract at Selhurst Park. Guehi is understood to be keen on a move to Anfield and is prepared to see out the remainder of his deal before leaving on a free next summer if he can't seal a switch before the transfer deadline on September 1.
Palace chairman Steve Parish admitted losing Guehi for nothing would create a "problem" for the club and it is holding out for $54 million (£40 million) for the England international. Liverpool remains hopeful of striking a deal in the region of $41-47M (£30-35m) and Glasner conceded that Guehi and talisman Eberechi Eze - who has been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham - could still be sold at any moment.
“Marc has trained the entire week with us, every single training session, the same with Ebs [Eze]. They’ve prepared the best way for the Chelsea game on Sunday afternoon," Palace head coach Glasner said.
“I’ve been in the football business for too long, so I know that at any time of any day, things can happen. If you ask me now, I expect both Marc and Ebs to start on Sunday."
Liverpool is desperate for reinforcements at center-back after Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen, while the future of Ibrahima Konate is unclear with the Frenchman into the final year of his contract.
The Reds have just agreed a $35M (£26m) deal to sign Giovanni Leoni from Parma but the 18-year-old is seen as a prospect for the future rather than now.
Virgil van Dijk, Konate and Joe Gomez are their only other recognised senior central defenders going into the new season.
Guehi played the full match against Liverpool in the Community Shield on Sunday before he was substituted prior to the Eagles' win in the penalty shootout.
He remains a key player under Glasner as Palace head into a season where they will also be competing in Europe, but his contract situation could force their hand.
Palace held onto Guehi despite a $88M (£65m) bid from Newcastle last summer while it also rejected a $95M (£70m) offer from Tottenham in January.
But Liverpool's advances may be too tempting to turn down. Parish admitted on Sunday: "For players of that calibre to leave on a free, it is a problem for a football club. There is no doubt about it, unfortunately.
“Joachim [Andersen] went and we couldn’t afford to lose both of them. We then had another bid in January but that was a difficult situation as well.
"We will just have to see what happens. It needs a new contract or a conclusion of some kind.”
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