Liverpool Lead Guehi Race but Pearce Backs Man City to hijack the deal (1 Viewer)

[MartinGee]

Stuart Pearce believes Manchester City should make a serious push to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi this summer, calling the centre-back position the one weak link in Pep Guardiola’s otherwise dominant team.

City have already made a splash in the transfer market, signing Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Tijjani Reijnders, while promising teenager Sverre Nypan has joined from Rosenborg. But despite their spending, the club hasn't yet strengthened the central defence, an area Pearce thinks still needs urgent attention.

With Manuel Akanji, John Stones, and Nathan Ake all hitting their 30s and dealing with recurring injuries, the lack of fresh depth is starting to show. Although City did bring in youngsters Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Juma Bah in January (Bah is currently on loan at Nice), Pearce feels the current setup is far from secure.

“It does worry me a little bit,” Pearce told Sports Mole. “When they won the Champions League a couple of years ago, their biggest strength was how solid they were defensively. They were incredibly hard to break down, and that gave the rest of the team the platform to thrive.”

“The back four was settled and worked really well together. Kyle Walker cleaned up anything that slipped through. That solid foundation was their trump card,” he said.

Pearce singled out Guehi as the kind of player City need.

“I’d go after Marc Guehi if I were them. I’m a big fan. He’s great one-on-one, which is crucial in City’s system where defenders are often left isolated on the counterattack. If anything is going to let them down, it’s that back line.”

Guehi has just one year left on his contract at Palace, and while the club isn’t expected to let him go cheaply reportedly valuing him between £40 million and £50 million his situation puts them under pressure to sell now rather than risk losing him for less later.

So far, City haven’t been publicly linked with a move for the England international. Liverpool are reportedly leading the race, with Tottenham also keeping tabs. The Reds, in particular, are in need of reinforcements after losing Jarell Quansah and Nat Phillips, and with Ibrahima Konate entering the final year of his contract amid reported interest from Real Madrid.

 

[Skillful]

Stuart Pearce believes Manchester City should make a serious push to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi this summer, calling the centre-back position the one weak link in Pep Guardiola’s otherwise dominant team.

City have already made a splash in the transfer market, signing Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Tijjani Reijnders, while promising teenager Sverre Nypan has joined from Rosenborg. But despite their spending, the club hasn't yet strengthened the central defence, an area Pearce thinks still needs urgent attention.

With Manuel Akanji, John Stones, and Nathan Ake all hitting their 30s and dealing with recurring injuries, the lack of fresh depth is starting to show. Although City did bring in youngsters Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Juma Bah in January (Bah is currently on loan at Nice), Pearce feels the current setup is far from secure.



Pearce singled out Guehi as the kind of player City need.



Guehi has just one year left on his contract at Palace, and while the club isn’t expected to let him go cheaply reportedly valuing him between £40 million and £50 million his situation puts them under pressure to sell now rather than risk losing him for less later.

So far, City haven’t been publicly linked with a move for the England international. Liverpool are reportedly leading the race, with Tottenham also keeping tabs. The Reds, in particular, are in need of reinforcements after losing Jarell Quansah and Nat Phillips, and with Ibrahima Konate entering the final year of his contract amid reported interest from Real Madrid.

Guehi seems like an average player to me, he's been hyped alot