Journalist: Liverpool hold major advantage in race for Premier League star

Liverpool hold the edge again in battle with Man City

Liverpool’s recent transfer business has carried a familiar undertone. Quiet confidence, patience, then a decisive strike. Last summer, the Reds stunned Man City and Bayern Munich by landing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, a deal few believed they could close. The outcome hinged on player choice, and Wirtz decided that Anfield offered the right stage for his next step.

For Liverpool, it felt symbolic. A club often framed as operating slightly outside the game’s financial elite had beaten Pep Guardiola’s Man City to one of Europe’s most coveted talents. City adjusted swiftly, pivoting towards Ryan Cherki, yet the sense lingered that Liverpool had won the defining duel.

Now, as the 2026 window unfolds, the pattern threatens to repeat.

Photo: IMAGO

Transfer landscape shaping up for another showdown

Liverpool and Man City again find themselves circling the same name, this time Marc Guehi. The Crystal Palace centre back is approaching the end of his contract, and his situation has drawn attention from across the Premier League’s upper tier. Arsenal are monitoring closely, while Guardiola’s side are keeping a watching brief.

There is history here. Liverpool thought they had secured Guehi previously, only for Palace to withdraw late in the summer window. The interest never disappeared. With Virgil van Dijk turning 35 this year, succession planning at centre back has moved from theory to necessity. Guehi, entering his prime and proven at Premier League level, fits that requirement neatly.

The intrigue, however, lies less in the list of suitors and more in the player’s apparent preference.

Marc Guehi choice sends signal

Insight from those close to the situation suggests that Liverpool sit firmly at the front of the queue. Speaking on the Let Me Talk podcast, Sam Lee outlined the mood around the defender’s thinking.

“On Monday night I was told by somebody who knows what’s going on at City, but also I think probably Palace as well, he said he thinks Guehi wants to stay until the summer and he prefers Liverpool [to City] in any case,” Lee said.

“Somebody else messaged me on Twitter and I know he’s very good on other club stuff, he was like ‘yeah, he wants to stay until the summer and he prefers Liverpool and Arsenal’. I was like ‘well I haven’t heard Arsenal,’ but that kind of tallies what I’d been told the night before.”

For Liverpool, that preference matters. Man City can offer trophies and continuity, but Anfield can offer immediacy and responsibility.

Anfield pathway proves persuasive

At Liverpool, Guehi would not arrive as a rotation option. With Konate currently leaving and Van Dijk nearing the latter stages of his career, the pathway to becoming the starting centre back is clear. At Man City, competition is deeper and roles often more fluid. Arsenal remain a factor, yet Liverpool’s combination of opportunity, status and recent ambition appears compelling.

Once again, Liverpool find themselves in a position to outmanoeuvre Man City not through spending power alone, but through clarity of vision. If this deal is completed, it will reinforce a growing narrative. When Liverpool and Man City want the same player, the final decision does not always fall in Guardiola’s favour.