Stuart Pearce has claimed that Liverpool should be ‘all over’ a move for one Premier League defender this summer.
Having already strengthened both full-back positions with the signings of Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, the focus for sporting director Richard Hughes now seems to have switched to the other end of the pitch, with the Reds having reached out for Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike over the past couple of days.
However, the Premier League champions’ defensive recruitment mightn’t be finished just yet, with reliable reporter David Lynch stating earlier this month (via Sports Mole) that the Merseysiders have a ‘concrete’ interest in Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi.
Pearce: Liverpool should be ‘all over’ a move for Guehi
Speaking to Boylesports (via Liverpool Echo), Pearce insisted that Liverpool shouldn’t think twice about raiding the south London club for the 25-year-old this summer.
The ex-Nottingham Forest and England defender said: “I love Marc Guehi and I think he’s now England’s first defender on the team sheet. I think he’s probably a better international centre-half than he is a Premier League centre-half, but he’s low maintenance.
“Looking at him, he plays with real consistency and he reads the game well. For me, I would be looking to get him out of Crystal Palace if he’s available. If you’re Liverpool, to have him, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk – wow! I would take him all day long.
“I think what he does really well is he reads the game when the ball is at the other end of the pitch. For counterattacks and things like that, as I’ve seen with England, you might have the ball for a long period of time and you need a central defender continually reading the game and having the pace to get his team out of trouble on the counterattack.
“I think he serves that purpose. If I was Liverpool, if I was Newcastle, all of those teams, I’d be all over him to try and sign him.”
Guehi could solve a few potential problems for Liverpool if they sign him
We share Pearce’s advocacy of the Reds making a move for Guehi this summer, and not just for the reasons that he specified.
Jarell Quansah’s exit to Bayer Leverkusen leaves Arne Slot with only three senior centre-backs, one of whom (Ibrahima Konate) has been the subject of much speculation as he enters the final year of his contract, and it’s also reduced the number of homegrown players in Liverpool’s squad.
Signing the Palace defender would cancel out both of those potential problems, and if our number 5 were to depart in the next 12 months, bringing in another Premier League-proven operator in his mid-20s would be most advisable.
Lynch has hinted that Guehi would likely cost somewhere in the region of £40m-£50m for Liverpool, which sounds about right for a player of his equality who’s shown that he can excel in the English top flight and is coming into what should be the prime years of his career.
The Eagles will understandably fight hard to keep hold of the 25-year-old, but the Reds could dangle the carrot of Champions League football and a plausible possibility of regular game-time if they were to make a formal approach for the defender. Let’s see if they take Pearce’s advice in the coming weeks…
