At halftime of the January transfer window, Manchester City seem to be winning it. First they splashed the cash (£64m) for Antoine Semenyo, grabbing the Premier League’s third leading scorer away from AFC Bournemouth. Now they’re finalizing a deal to sign Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.
An agreement has been reached in principle, for about £20m (plus add-ons).
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The 25-year-old English international is reportedly on his way to complete his Man City medical, with Palace manager Oliver Glasner ruling him out of his team’s clash with Sunderland this weekend, and confirming that Guehi is on his way towards joining another club. Glasner himself made a lot of news today, when he announced that he is stepping away from Palace at the end of the season.
A whole multitude of teams were said to be keen on Guehi, and that list includes plenty of Europe’s biggest and brightest. However, most of them wanted to wait until he was available on a free, at the end of this season when his Palace contract expires.
City were fine with spending the money now, as they have an injury crisis in the back line right now.
Given the shortage of fit center backs and full backs, with some of these players having serious injuries, adding Guehi now makes perfect sense for them.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.