Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has opened up on the decision to keep hold of Marc Guehi after a move to Liverpool collapsed on transfer deadline day
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has revealed the reason that the Eagles pulled the plug on Marc Guehi’s move to Liverpool.
The Premier League champions had struck a £35m agreement with Palace on transfer deadline day for the England international and the centre-back was granted permission to complete his medical in London on September 1.
But the Eagles’ efforts to find a replacement for their skipper collapsed when Brighton and Hove Albion’s Igor Julio opted for a loan spell at West Ham United instead of a move to Selhurst Park.
Reports also surfaced that evening suggesting head coach Oliver Glasner, who was determined to retain Guehi, had threatened to quit if his captain departed south London.
Parish has now disclosed that the FA Cup winners’ maiden European adventure was the decisive factor in choosing to retain Guehi, who will be free to discuss terms with foreign clubs from January 1 regarding a pre-contract agreement as a free agent.
“It’s a difficult decision,” Parish told talkSPORT. “It’s as simple as that these things are never black and white.
“I decided in the end that, based on the advice that I got and with what I think, that we would have a better season if we kept Marc.
“We don’t guess about these things. If you look at it rationally, if you look at what is worth the place in the Premier League, the fact that we’re in the Conference League for the first time in our history.
“This is a fairly unusual set of circumstances in which to keep a player.
“If we were fighting between the difference of 10th and 14th, if that was going to be the difference between keeping Marc and letting Marc go, then probably we would have said: ‘Right, we should take the money’.”
Liverpool are anticipated to return next summer when the 25-year-old will be available as a free agent, but the Reds will likely face competition from clubs around Europe.
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