MARC GUEHI has no regrets over a summer switch to Liverpool collapsing at the last minute.
The England defender was doing his medical at Anfield when word came through that Crystal Palace chiefs had pulled the plug.
Yet instead of throwing a strop, he got his head down at Selhurst Park and never lost faith that his move to football’s big stage would come.
It finally happened for him last week as he joined the Reds’ rivals Manchester City for £20million — and Guehi is thrilled with the way it has worked out.
Asked how near he came to signing for Liverpool, he said: “Very close.
“The medical was pretty much done and then it got pulled at the last minute. So, quite close!
Cunha ban risk
Sky Sports forced to apologise for Matheus Cunha’s goal celebration
TRANSPORTER
Win a VW Campervan + £2,000 or £36,000 cash from just 23p with our code
“But I was still OK. My mindset’s always, ‘Move on to the next one’.
“And also that what will be, will be. God’s got a plan for me. Just move on to the next one and focus on what I could do for Palace.”
Another Liverpool target, Alexander Isak, controversially went on strike at Newcastle to force through his move to Anfield over the summer.
Yet 25-year-old Guehi says it never entered his mind to take the nuclear option when his own transfer was called off.
He explained: “It would be doing Palace a disservice if I was acting a certain way because that club has given me everything.
“So, the least I can do is show up to work every single day, shut my mouth and keep my head down. That’s the most important thing.
“It is not me giving the football club everything — they have given me everything.
“They give me the opportunity to play and support us when things go well and things go bad.”
Guehi made an impressive debut in Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Prem basement boys Wolves.
And the classy centre-back reckons he is now at the perfect club to further his career.
I’m glad I have joined this fantastic football club
Marc Guehi
He explained: “It feels like it’s been going on forever. But I’m just glad that I got this move over the line.
“I’m now really confident that this is the place for me to improve and to grow as a player.
“I felt from conversations — through talking with some players here — that this was the place for me to improve and just to help as much as possible.”
Guehi might have waited until the summer for a move — when he would have been a free agent and could have had his pick of Europe’s top clubs.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool were all lurking but he was happy to make the switch in this winter window.
The defender, capped 26 times by his country, added: “Sometimes it’s hard because the January period is a tough one to come into. Like I said, it’s mid-season.
“You’re in season, so it’s difficult. But I’m just glad that it’s over now.
“I’m glad I have joined this fantastic football club. And everyone’s given me a lovely welcome.”
Read the full article here
