Marc Guehi to join Man City over Liverpool with Crystal Palace exit in ‘final stages’

Manchester City are closing in on the signing of England defender Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.

A deal has not been agreed but City are likely to finalise a £20m agreement for the centre-back, who has been withdrawn from the Palace squad to face Sunderland on Saturday.

Guehi is set to become City’s second January signing, after the £62.5m arrival of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth, and will help alleviate Pep Guardiola’s defensive injury crisis, with Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and John Stones all sidelined.

The cut-price fee, which could rise with bonuses and a sell-on clause, is because Guehi is out of contract at the end of the season and Palace risk losing their captain on a free transfer.

Guehi was close to joining Liverpool on the final day of the summer transfer window, when a £35m deal had been agreed, before Palace backed out of the deal when it was too late to find a replacement.

But while Liverpool still admire Guehi, they decided there was no value in a January deal and did not submit an offer. Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who had also shown an interest, did not bid and so City were in pole position to get a player they had liked for years.

And Palace were willing to sell with manager Oliver Glasner saying: “Latest understanding, the deal with Marc is in the final stages. We can't confirm, but it is not done. The result is Marc doesn't play tomorrow [Saturday] for us.

"When the players want to move on, a deal will happen. It looks like it has happened now. Everyone wanted Marc to stay forever. I talked to him, of course, it stays between us. Marc has shown it in the summer transfer window, shown it the whole autumn that he was 100 percent committed to the team and to Crystal Palace.”

City have spent over £400m in the last 12 months and Guehi’s arrival could lead to the summer departure of Stones, whose contract is up at the end of the season.

Guardiola said Dias would return soon but Gvardiol could be out for the rest of the season, with youngsters Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne standing in at centre-back for the last three games.

The City boss nevertheless insisted there was “nothing to say” when probed on the imminent arrival of Guehi, speaking at his press conference ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby.

Guehi will leave Palace as the most successful captain in their history after helping them win their first two trophies, beating City in last season’s FA Cup final and Liverpool in the Community Shield.