Oliver Glasner Drops New Marc Guehi Transfer Bombshell

Crystal Palace’s messaging over a potential mid-season move has been consistent.

Marc Guéhi’s Crystal Palace has been debated for months. / Sebastian Frej/Getty Images

The chances of Marc Guéhi leaving Crystal Palace in the January transfer window are increasing, if the comments of Oliver Glasner in his latest press conference are anything to go by.

25-year-old Guéhi is one of the hottest commodities in the game. Wanted by many of Europe’s elite—Real Madrid and Barcelona have been touted as suitors in addition to the Premier League’s heavy hitters—he’s in a position of power heading into the summer, with an expiring contract at Selhurst Park allowing him to move on for free.

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Of course, that’s a situation Palace have wanted to avoid at all costs. In the summer, a move to Liverpool looked to be on the cusp of completion, only for the plug to be pulled when Igor Julio, of all people, opted to join West Ham on loan rather than heading to Selhurst Park. Guéhi therefore remained a Palace player, where he immediately refocused and got stuck into the task at hand rather than sulking.

It’s since become public knowledge that Guéhi will not sign a new contract at Palace, giving last season’s FA Cup winners one of two options; either look to sell in January and bank some cash, or use his ability to engineer the best possible finish in 2025–26 and source a replacement in the summer—when it’s a whole lot easier to sign players.

A depleted defence has Man City looking at signing Marc Guehi this window. pic.twitter.com/6ys6S5yjro

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Palace looked to have gone down the “Guéhi is not for sale” route, resigning themselves to losing England’s centre back for the next decade or so for free. But that narrative has changed in recent days, particularly now Manchester City are on the hunt for reinforcements after lengthy injuries were picked up by Josko Gvardiol and Rúben Dias.

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Glasner: Palace Will Sell Guehi for the Right Offer

Oliver Glasner may not be at Palace himself come the summer. / Sebastian Frej/Getty Images

With many anticipating a bid from the eight-time Premier League champions, the possibility of Guéhi leaving imminently was put to Glasner in his latest news conference. The Austrian, who was typically blunt and to the point when discussing links to the vacant Manchester United job, was as honest as ever with the assembled media, only this time he conceded that the time for Guéhi to leave might have arrived.

“If a player feels too good for a club, it is better to sell him, and if a player is not good enough for a club, you also have to sell him,” Glasner said. “To get the best out of your squad, it must be a match.”

Probed on whether City are a “match” in waiting, he continued: “It could be. I’m not so naïve as not to know that if a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen.”

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“Nothing in life is one-dimensional,” Glasner added. “Let’s say you have a nice car but you need money because it’s cold and a window [at home] is broken, and somebody offers you crazy money for your car. You say, ‘No, I don’t want to sell my car. I love my car. But I don’t want to freeze.’ Then you say, ‘If I can get the window and even a new roof, you can have the car. But I would like to keep it.’

“It’s the same with Marc. Everybody wants him to play for Crystal Palace, sign a new contract and stay here for ever. On the other side, the contract ends this summer and if somebody is coming and you are freezing, there will be a moment when the club says, ‘Now the financial issue is more important than the sporting issue and we have to do it.’

“There will be a threshold where if Marc says he wants to leave and the money is above the threshold, it will happen.”

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