'Why should I join you now?' - Marc Guehi 'maybe felt let down' by Liverpool after deciding to join Man City instead

After a lengthy summer transfer saga involving Liverpool, Guehi ended up staying with Palace for the first half of the 2025-26 season, playing in the Eagles' maiden voyage into European football in the Conference League. However, he quickly became a target for Pep Guardiola after several defenders in the Spaniard's City squad suffered injuries, leaving to a shortage of available centre-backs.

With the likes of Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones all currently sidelined, Guehi made his debut in City's 2-0 victory over Wolves shortly after his arrival, though he wasn't available for the following Champions League win against Galatasaray due to registration rules.

The 25-year-old will have a fight on his hands for a starting XI place in the future once his injured team-mates are fit again, but he is expected to start most of City's upcoming matches as they attempt to make progress in four separate competitions.

However, things would have been so different if a summer move to Liverpool had materialised. The Reds were looking to add further depth to their centre-back options, with the future of France international Ibrahima Konate up in the air.

A £35 million ($48.2m/€40.4m) deal with Palace looked to have been agreed late in the window, but the London side pulled the plug on deadline day amid fears of manager Oliver Glasner quitting his job, having already said goodbye to Eberechi Eze, and Guehi ended up staying put.

It was thought Liverpool could revisit the move, but City beat them to it and now ex-midfielder Hamann has suggested the summer saga may have played a role in Guehi's decision to join City.

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Speaking to CasinoBeats, former City and Liverpool midfielder Hamann said: "Obviously Marc Guehi would have had the choice of a number of clubs. Bayern Munich were interested as well. He would have thought long and hard about it and what to do. 

"I think he’ll play at Manchester City. He’s shown he is probably the best English centre-back at the moment. He plays really well for the national team. 

"I heard that if Liverpool had paid a bit more in the summer they could have had him so maybe he thought that they had their chance to get him in the summer. Why should I join you now in the winter? Maybe he felt let down in a way. I don’t know. Maybe that was one of the reasons that affected his decision. 

"I think he will be a very good player for Manchester City but then again they brought in 12 or 13 new players for an awful lot of money in the last 12 or 18 months and things are not really clicking for them either although not as bad as Liverpool. 

"Will he regret moving to Manchester City? Probably not."

Guehi is expected to play his part in a challenging run of fixtures over the next month or so. After visiting Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, the Cityzens will hope to maintain their 2-0 aggregate lead over Newcastle United in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday. After that, City take on Liverpool, Fulham, Salford United in the FA Cup and Newcastle again in the Premier League.