Alright, confession time: I watched Liverpool beat Southampton in the Carabao Cup while inhaling cold pizza, and I genuinely don’t know which did more damage, the calories or seeing Giovanni Leoni stretchered off with a torn ACL. That image is burned into my brain. The kid had only just arrived from Parma in August 2025 for an initial £26million, and suddenly he’s facing months out. As an ordinary fan with zero medical qualifications and a social media feed full of terrible takes, my first thought was obvious: here we go again.
Now, let’s rewind to deadline day in the summer of 2025. I had roughly fourteen tabs open, my hair was falling out, and a £35million deal for Marc Guehi was basically on the edge of happening. Crystal Palace pulled the plug because they couldn’t land a replacement, leaving Arne Slot to make do with the centre-backs already at Anfield. I’m still convinced my blood pressure hasn’t recovered from that one.
Fast forward to January 2026, and here comes the twist nobody needed: GIVEMESPORT’s Ben Jacobs has floated the idea that Liverpool could change their stance and make a fresh attempt for Guehi when the window reopens. Or, since it’s already January, right about now. The reasoning is brutally simple. Leoni’s serious knee injury leaves the backline thinner than my patience during a high-line offside trap.
What makes this even spicier is Guehi’s contract situation. The England international has entered the final months of his Crystal Palace deal, which currently pays him around £50,000 per week before bonuses. That’s not exactly supermarket money, but for a defender of his quality it feels suspiciously sensible. The scary part for Liverpool fans is that overseas clubs can offer him a pre-contract agreement in January. That means we could lose him for nothing while the club sits there doing its best impression of a transfer window statue.
And yet, Liverpool apparently prefer to secure him as a free agent next summer rather than splashing the cash mid-season. As a fan, I respect the financial discipline, but my nervous system does not. Every corner we concede now feels like a personal attack on my wellbeing.
Let me break down the options with the emotional energy of someone refreshing flight trackers at 1am:
| Option | What actually happens | My fan anxiety level |
|---|---|---|
| Sign Guehi in January | Pay a fee mid-season and get immediate cover | Low, but my F5 key is destroyed |
| He signs a pre-contract elsewhere | Liverpool miss out completely | Extremely high, possibly terminal |
| Wait until summer | Try to land him on a free transfer | Medium, with recurring nightmares |
| Do absolutely nothing | Hope the current defenders stay fit | Critical, please send help |
The upside of moving in January is pretty clear. Guehi knows the Premier League, he’s an England international, and he wouldn’t need six months to understand what a rainy away night at a promoted side feels like. He could walk straight in and give Slot another reliable body at the heart of defence. For a team with title ambitions, that’s not nothing.
The downside, of course, is the fee. Why pay Crystal Palace in January when you can potentially get the player for nothing in July? Well, because football isn’t a spreadsheet. If another club swoops in with a pre-contract offer, all those lovely saved millions won't stop me from crying into my cereal. Sometimes being ‘smart’ in the market looks a lot like being cheap if it backfires.
Ben Jacobs mentioned on the Market Madness podcast that Liverpool are aware overseas suitors could convince Guehi to sign a pre-contract agreement in January, but the preference has been to secure him as a free agent ahead of next term instead of splashing the cash. As an ordinary fan, that sentence gave me both comfort and indigestion.
I’m not saying Liverpool’s transfer policy is pure chaos, but our centre-back situation has more plot twists than a soap opera. One minute we’re signing a talented teenager from Parma, the next he’s out with an ACL injury and we’re wondering whether the summer’s £35million target is about to reappear like a late-night kebab craving.
So here I am in January 2026, refreshing every rumour page, trying not to overreact to every bit of news. Will Liverpool go back in for Guehi? Honestly, I haven’t got a clue. But if the club decides to wait until summer, I’d recommend keeping all sharp objects away from me whenever an opposition striker runs directly at our centre-backs.
For now, I’ll keep supporting the lads, keep hoping Leoni’s recovery goes well, and keep pretending I understand the club’s long-term planning. And if Marc Guehi does end up signing, I promise to act very cool about it in public. Privately, I will lose my mind entirely.