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Liverpool's deadline day swoop for Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi was thwarted at the last minute. The Reds tabled a $47 million (£35m) bid on Saturday, complete with a 10% sell-on clause.
Despite Palace reportedly holding out for $54M (£40m), an agreement was reached, paving the way for Guehi to secure his move. The England international was poised in London, awaiting the go-ahead to sign on the dotted line for Liverpool.
However, the deal fell through after Palace failed to secure a replacement and subsequently withdrew their consent, despite a deal sheet having been submitted to the Premier League. It has since emerged that Palace chairman Steve Parish had a ridiculous reason for postponing a transfer meeting with Guehi on deadline day.
The botched transfer has reportedly left Guehi fuming, and he is said to be planning to reject any new contract offers and depart Palace as a free agent when his current deal runs out next summer.
Yet, despite his disappointment, Guehi was seen grinning from ear to ear as he joined his England colleagues on Tuesday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel disclosed that he had given his squad Monday off due to it being transfer deadline day.
He explained: "It is one reason why we called the players up on Tuesday, to not have all these mixed emotions. They come on Tuesday, so they have one day off.
"We also didn't want to have that week too long. We wanted to streamline it towards the Saturday game and start on the Tuesday afternoon with training.
"But one part of the decision was also to give them the freedom to sort out maybe their transfer issues and the transfer subjects that come their way.
"So, yeah, of course we're interested. We need to know where we have to drive on the weekend."
Guehi is a crucial part of Tuchel's World Cup strategy and is anticipated to play in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.
On the failed transfer, ex-Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson said: "Having been led to believe sooner or later a deal would be done between the clubs, I guess that his head for the last period of time has been he was going to move. He's the loser in the situation.
"Palace should be the winner because he's such a good player and to have a player, captain and leader of that calibre should be advantageous.
“But it remains to be seen how upset he may have been by what's happened during these past few hours.
“I think the transfer situation could have been sorted out much quicker between both clubs.”
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