Crystal Palace chairman says Marc Guehi may have to be sold this summer

New York Times

4 hours ago

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has admitted that the club may have to sell captain Marc Guehi this summer.
Guehi has one year remaining on the five-year deal he signed when joining from Chelsea in 2021 and has given no indication that he is prepared to renew his contract.
Palace turned down bids of up to £65million for the 25-year-old from Newcastle United last season as they failed to meet the valuation they placed on the centre-back. But with his deal running down, this transfer window is their last opportunity to walk away with a significant amount of money for a player who has developed significantly in south London.
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Liverpool, who Palace defeated on penalties in the Community Shield on Sunday, are one of Guehi's suitors. But it is unclear whether they will meet the asking price for him. Parish, though, conceded that Palace do not have 'infinite money', and he is realistic about the possible need to sell Guehi in order to fund a rejuvenation of the squad.
'We'd have to (sell if a good offer came in),' Parish said after the Community Shield victory, when asked what Palace would do if they received a favourable offer. 'For players of that calibre to leave on a free, it's a problem. We had one bid (last summer) but Joachim (Andersen) went (to Fulham) and we couldn't afford to lose both defenders.
'We had another bid in January but that was a difficult situation as well. The player had a point of view on that one. We'll have to see what happens but it needs a new contract or a conclusion of some kind.
'People trade players. If you just don't care about tomorrow you put it all off. We're a fantastic team, if we had four more players I don't know what we could achieve but it's not as simple as that. We have a lot of outgoings this year because we're paying a lot of transfer fees for players we already have. We'll do whatever we can.
'As far as people being here or not being here, if it's the right decision for the club and for them — nobody can make anyone go — then there will be some changes, but we have to make smart ones.'
Parish says he is conscious of the impact that playing in Europe will have on a team which has seen only two new players arrive so far this summer. The goalkeeper Walter Benitez joined on a free transfer after his PSV Eindhoven contract expired, while left wing-back Borna Sosa arrived for £2million from Ajax.
'At some point you have to recycle your squad or you're pushing off problems,' Parish said. 'We'll do everything we can in the next few weeks to give ourselves the best chance. I'm aware we're in four competitions and it's not going to be easy.
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'Maybe Ismaila (Sarr) will go to the Africa Cup of Nations. We're trying to cope with all those things. But the amount of money we have isn't infinite.
'All clubs are the same. I admire Oliver so much. He just wants to win matches and trophies. I don't mind that he wants to do that and I think someone at the club should do that. I have a lot of other things to worry about. It's crazy what people spend in the Premier League and the financial jeopardy people take.
'I have to look at everything in the round but don't think for a minute that I don't watch that team and get anything other than joy and think I want to support them, help them and do what I can. But there are complications in all of that.
'Oliver is a very, very experienced manager when he asks things they're rarely wrong. It'd be better if we did them but it doesn't mean they're easy to do.'
Palace will find out on Monday whether their appeal against demotion to the Conference League has been successful, but regardless of the outcome they will have at least two more games this season. Should they enter the Conference League and win their play-off then they will play at least six further games.
Parish suggested they will consider all possible avenues should the decision not fall favourably.
'It'll be good to put it behind us but I don't want that to come across as any kind of fatalism. I'm determined we get the right outcome. If we don't we'll have to look at if there's any steps after that. We will play in the Conference League.
'I am even more after Friday (when the appeal was heard). I don't understand how we can not be in the competition. It's up to the judges to decide, we trust them. They listened to everything.'
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