Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi close to joining Manchester City..

BBC's resident renowned transfer journalist Sami Mokbel reported on Friday that Crystal Palace captain, England international center-back Marc Guehi is close to joining Manchester City.

According to Mokbel, Manchester City have agreed to pay Crystal Palace £20 million to sign Guehi, and the player has already reached an agreement with the Cityzens on personal terms within hours.

Sky Sports' renowned Italian transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, revealed that Manchester City were willing to multiply Guehi's wages and bonuses several times over, which was the reason they were able to finalize the transfer so quickly.

To sign Guehi, Manchester City even offered twice as much as Virgil van Dijk's wages and bonuses, a turning point that deterred many clubs.

Liverpool also decided to give up competing with Manchester City for Guehi for this reason and have turned their attention to other players.

After missing out on signing Guehi, Liverpool ECHO's resident renowned English Liverpool team correspondent Paul Gorst, said the Reds will not give up any opportunity to sign another centre-back during the winter transfer window.

Head coach Arne Slot confirmed this in a pre-match press conference, although no player has yet been identified as a potential target.

It's worth mentioning that Guehi is the second player this season to be snatched from Liverpool's radar by Manchester City.

Recently, Liverpool also lost out in the same manner to the transfer battle of Ghanaian international winger Antoine Semenyo.

This marks the second time Liverpool has missed a golden opportunity to sign Guehi following the summer transfer window deadline day, after he had completed his medical but Crystal Palace cancelled the transfer at the last minute.

About Marc Guehi

Marc Guehi, 25, was born on July 13, 2000, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He is 1.82 meters tall and plays as a center-back. He holds dual Ivorian and British citizenship.

Guehi joined the youth academy of non-league club Cray Wanderers at the age of six, and two years later joined Chelsea's youth academy, before completing his Chelsea first-team debut in a Carabao Cup match against Grimsby Town in September 2019.

The following January, Guehi was loaned-out to Swansea City for 18 months. During his time there, he helped the club twice reach the EFL Championship play-offs.

In July 2021, Guehi joined Crystal Palace for £18 million.

Since joining the Eagles, Guehi has made 188 appearances for the Premier League club in all competitions so far, scoring 11 goals and providing 8 assists, winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield once each.