Oliver Glasner has praised Steve Parish for deciding not to sell Marc Guéhi to Liverpool on transfer deadline day after he warned the Crystal Palace chair that failing to replace their captain would be “very, very risky”.
Palace had agreed a £35m fee with Liverpool for Guéhi – who completed the first part of his medical in anticipation of the move – but Parish dramatically pulled the plug at the last minute after failing to find an adequate replacement.
The Guardian understands Glasner threatened to resign if Guéhi was allowed to join Liverpool. The manager said on Friday that had not been the case but said he had concerns about whether the arrival of Jaydee Canvot, a 19-year-old who cost an initial £21m from Toulouse after 14 Ligue 1 starts, would leave them short in defence.
“At the end of the many discussions, the chairman asked me, ‘Oliver, do you think we can manage the season when we sell Marc?’ And I said, ‘Steve, honestly, I think we can’t manage it in the short term,’” said Glasner.
“If we buy a 19-year-old fantastic player with about 1,000 minutes in Ligue 1 and sell our captain with about 15,000 minutes in the Premier League, I think we can’t manage it in the short term. And then we have three centre-backs. With our schedule, and if we have an injury in the back three, I think it’s very, very risky.
“If you want this scenario for Crystal Palace, and you are fine with it, sell Marc. If you don’t want to have this for Crystal Palace, then we have to keep him. And then he decided we keep him. So, big credit to the chairman. I didn’t have to threaten anybody. There was no tensions between the chairman and myself. It was really just a discussion about sports.”
It is understood that Guéhi, who has less than a year on his contract, was extremely unhappy with Palace’s U-turn and considered whether to continue as captain. Glasner confirmed Guéhi had been disappointed at first but said he had no doubts about the commitment of a player who impressed on England duty over the past week.
“Not any more,” he said. “He signed the contract for Crystal Palace many years ago. Nobody forced him to sign this contract. And it was clear for him that he sticks to his contract. And that was a credit to Marc. He never [went on] strike, he never threatened to do this. Because he’s a very honest person. And that’s why I never worried about this situation.
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“Yes, sometimes my children would like to have something. Then you have to say: ‘Sorry, not this time.’ They’re disappointed, but the next day, it’s gone. So that’s good. Because we always have a very honest and open relationship. He accepted it. It’s good to have him here.”
Glasner’s contract also expires next summer and he is yet to resume talks on potentially extending his stay, though the Austrian confirmed those were in the pipeline. “There will be a time when we talk about my future,” he said. “But really, the last two weeks, nobody wanted to talk about it.”
