I think Liverpool have blown their chances with Marc Guehi transfer - January deal is vital

Marc Guehi

Liverpool have been told they have "blown their chances" of signing Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.

That's according to their former midfielder Don Hutchison, who says the centre-back is now a must-have in the January transfer window.

The Premier League champions were closing in on a £35m deal for the England international on transfer deadline day only to see Palace pull the plug on the move at the 11th hour after they failed in their own efforts to sign Igor Julio, who joined West Ham United from Brighton instead.

Guehi is out of contract next summer and is still understood to be a player of interest on Merseyside.

But Hutchison, who played 60 times for the Reds between 1991 and 1994, says Arne Slot cannot afford to wait until the end of the campaign to land England international.

Hutchison

"They’ve blown their chances of landing him,” Hutchison told SportsCasting.com

"One million percent. I mean, I'd love to be a fly on the wall at Liverpool when they didn't get the Guehi deal done.

"Let's just say Crystal Palace wanted £45million. Liverpool should have given them £50m, because they're going to have Marc Guehi for six years. They should have just paid the money.

"When I compare Liverpool to Arsenal, I see two proper men and two proper guys that won't be bullied in (Riccardo) Calafiori and (Jurrien) Timber, alongside (William) Saliba and Gabriel.

"So you've got four centre-backs across there.

“If Marc Guehi was at Liverpool now he'd be playing at left-back and you'd be (Ibrahima) Konate, (Virgil) Van Dijk, (Conor) Bradley and Guehi, and you’d be thinking crikey, that’s pretty versatile.

"Liverpool should have just paid Palace whatever they wanted. I think it was a poor move.

"They were so focused on signing (Alexander) Isak. I understand that, because you can’t turn it down, but Guehi had to be the other priority.

"This January has to be the marker with Guehi if they want to finish in the top four.

“They need to try and pull out all the stops to land him in January because by the summer time, I think he’ll have plenty of options to choose from, and they could be more attractive to him and his family."

On Ibrahima Konate, who himself is a free agent next summer,

Hutchison added: "I'd keep Konate from now to the end of season because he's a good body to have around just in case Virgil got injured, or if Guehi signed and took a knock.

"If Guehi went to left-back you would still need Konate.

"I'd keep him around until the summer, and if he wants to move on a free transfer, then Liverpool will have one or two irons in the fire to try and replace him."

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