Arne Slot breaks his silence on Marc Guehi’s failed move to Liverpool ‘it’s a pity’…

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Arne Slot has spoken publicly for the first time since Marc Guehi’s deadline day move to Liverpool collapsed at the final stages.

Liverpool agreed a £35 million deal to sign Guehi on the same day the club completed a British transfer record move for Alexander Isak.

Guehi had completed a medical in London to ensure there would be no complications for the proposed move, but transfer decisions away from Liverpool resulted in the player remaining at Selhurst Park.

The Reds did, of course, sign 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni this summer, with the highly-rated Italian defender joining from Parma to bolster the centre-back options.

Arne Slot admits he wanted to sign Marc Guehi for Liverpool

When speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Premier League clash against Burnley on Sunday, Slot admitted that he wanted Guehi at Anfield.

“It would be ridiculous if I denied that we were close to signing him. That is so out in the open that it would be ridiculous.

“These things happen in football, it happened to our players, maybe in the past as well, that they thought they were close to signing somewhere else, then at the last moment, things change.

“For me, we would have liked to sign him, of course, because we were in for him, but one or two days before, we played Arsenal, where Ibou (Konate) and Virgil (van Dijk) played an outstanding game, and Joe (Gomez) came in 20 minutes before the end and did outstanding as well.

“It’s not like all of a sudden we don’t have options. It’s a pity, not only for us but for the player, I think, but he’s in a good place playing at Palace. Let’s see what the future brings for him and for us.”

Crystal Palace’s decision represented a major setback in an otherwise flawless transfer window for the Reds. As Palace failed to find a suitable replacement, Oliver Glasner convinced Steve Parish to pull the plug on the deal.

Although Liverpool are not expected to return with a fresh offer in the January transfer window, the Reds remain intent on signing Guehi when his contract at Selhurst Park expires at the end of the season.

TBR Football understands Guehi remains fully committed to Palace despite the disappointment of seeing his move to Anfield collapse at the last minute and is focused on impressing in South London ahead of the World Cup.

Liverpool failing to sign Marc Guehi could cost Arne Slot

It is widely reported that the Reds understood how much it would take to agree a deal with Palace, and yet, the club waited until deadline day to reach an agreement.

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool will rue not signing Guehi, as the ex-Liverpool man is not convinced with the current centre-back options at Anfield.

Indeed, outside of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, the options are questionable. Leoni will need time to adapt to English football, whereas Joe Gomez boasts an undesirable fitness record.

Furthermore, Konate cannot be relied upon to remain injury-free throughout the season, and with Guehi staying at Palace, the Reds are a handful of injuries away from dealing with a defensive crisis.