Guehi ‘will end up’ at Man City as Konate issue sees Liverpool ‘fade away’ in transfer race

Liverpool will end up missing out on Marc Guehi as the Ibrahima Konate “issue” will see the Crystal Palace defender join Man City, according to reports.

Since winning their first seven matches in all competitions, Liverpool have won just four of their next 14 games and are currently eighth in the Premier League.

The Reds won the Premier League under Arne Slot last season but their performances have been miles away from where they were in 2024/25.

Liverpool spent over £400m in the summer transfer window on new players as the Reds hierarchy looked to build on the success of Slot’s first season at the club.

They could have spent even more if a deal for Guehi had gone through on deadline day with Crystal Palace pulling the plug on the deal at the medical stage.

But former Everton CEO Keith Wyness insists that Liverpool “will unfortunately fade away” in the race for Guehi as the England international “will end up at” Man City.

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Wyness told Football Insider: “I think it does make sense for City. This one actually makes more sense than [Antoine] Semenyo to me and I think that that’s where he may well end up.

“I think Liverpool have got themselves in such a bind over the Konate issue, the Marc Guehi thing will unfortunately fade away for them. I thought at the time, you know in the summer he would have been the perfect replacement as we’ve discussed.

“So I think, yes, I think that he will end up at City and I think that’s where I expect him to be. There is a lot of interest but I think he’s actually shown me that he’s actually thought things through and acted quite sensibly and taken some decent advice. He handled the Palace thing quite well.

“And so I would expect him to move to City and I think he would be a great replacement, basically for John Stones is what we’re thinking about now.”

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Ibrahima Konate’s future at Anfield with his Liverpool contract expiring at the end of the season.

Rumours had persisted that he would move to Real Madrid on a free transfer, although there interest has cooled, while Paris Saint-Germain and others are still interested.

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Wyness expects Konate to leave rather than renew his contract at Liverpool, he added: “Well, Konate is an interesting one. I mean, he’s had this dip in form which you would possibly attribute to the fact that he’s had his head turned, and he was already focusing on Real Madrid, etc.

“So that could have explained some of the dip in form. But certainly that dip in form has been very apparent. And I’ve spoken to a lot of my Liverpool friends who are saying that he has been really well below par, you know, whether this whole, if they’re able to resolve the contract situation and then, you know, getting back on track.

“He has shown that he can be a quality player at some stage, but I still believe there’s Bayern and PSG out there as well who might be more interested as well. So it isn’t just around Madrid.

“And I do think he’s now sort of, he’s unsettled himself enough that he’s going to make a move. So I would expect him to be going. And I think Liverpool may resolve that in January, but he’s got to completely get back onto Liverpool, sign a new contract, and then get his head down again.

“But while his head’s still being turned with international interest, I don’t think he’s going to be quite the player he was before.”

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