Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has opened up on the ‘unusual set of circumstances’ behind Marc Guehi’s failed move to Liverpool.
Parish agreed a £35million deal with the Reds for his captain late in the transfer window, only to pull the plug on deadline day.
England international Guehi had completed his medical in London and even filmed an exit video before being told his move was off.
talkSPORT understands Palace boss Oliver Glasner played a direct role in the defender staying at the club.
Glasner threatened to walk away if Guehi was sold, having failed to sign two centre-backs during the summer window.
talkSPORT understands Guehi has no plans to sign a new Palace contract and will thus leave Selhurst Park after the World Cup.
The club’s co-owner and chairman, Parish, has now opened up on why he ultimately turned down Liverpool’s £35m offer – even with his talisman set to depart for nothing within a year.
“It’s a difficult decision,” he explained live in the talkSPORT studio, “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.’”
Parish also opened up on talkSPORT’s Sunday Session about the Eagles’ current succession plans for Guehi next summer.
Jaydee Canvot has already arrived from Toulouse, with Palace eagerly anticipating Chadi Riad’s return from injury as well.
“We’ve got Jaydee [Canvot] who’s coming in, who’s going to develop as a player we hope,” Parish added.
“We’ve got Chadi [Riad] coming back from injury. Hopefully, we’ll be okay. We should be okay, and that there’s no big loss.
“But with the Conference League, with the way that we want to fight this season, maybe finishing the top half of the league for the first time, we felt it was a good decision to keep Marc.
“We’ve got Chadi coming back, hopefully in October. So in theory, we could get to a place where we don’t need to buy one.
“We could get to a place where we don’t need to replace Marc if we keep him all season.”
Liverpool have no plans to bid for Guehi in January, talkSPORT understands; however, that was prior to Giovanni Leoni’s injury.
With Leoni set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Arne Slot only has captain Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez at his disposal.
As it stands, Liverpool are not inclined to bid for Guehi in January, knowing the Palace captain is a free transfer next summer.
Guehi is understood to be content to see out the season and pick his next club after the 2026 World Cup.
The 25-year-old will be able to pick from a series of clubs next summer with not just Liverpool still keen on adding him on a free transfer, but Real Madrid are said to be among his suitors as well.
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