Jamie Carragher’s claims that Liverpool could live to regret failing to sign Marc Guehi this summer have quickly come home to roost for Liverpool, but sources now expect the Arne Slot to rectify the issue the very moment the January window opens for business.
Having spent a colossal £440m (€505m, $598m) on new players this summer, it seems absurd to feel that the Liverpool squad still has some areas of weakness. While they are flying high at the top of the Premier League with a solid 100% record, and are also through to round four of the Carabao Cup, a possible season-ending injury to teenage star Giovanni Leoni has cast a serious damp note over the week.
Arriving in the summer in a £26m (€30m, $35m) deal from Parma, the 18-year-old Italian is seen as a strong future option for the Reds, as well as giving them serious quality cover in the here and now.
However, 81 minutes into his Reds debut, Leoni was stretchered from the field, with his injury sustained against Southampton now confirmed as an ACL tear.
That worst possible news means Leoni is likely to be absent for the rest of the season, if not the bulk of it, as work on his rehabilitation gets underway immediately.
For Slot, it now means he only has Joe Gomez as cover for first-choice pairing Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, making their failure to land Guehi over the summer doubly painful for the Reds.
We understand, though, that the Reds will almost certainly bring forward the plan to sign the 26-times capped England star in January – as predicted by our transfer insider Fraser Fletcher last week.
Carragher’s words of warning as Liverpool bring Guehi plan forward
While Guehi has since been strongly linked with Real Madrid – and reports in Spain on Thursday further pushed those claims – our transfer insider Fraser Fletcher is adamant that the Reds are ready to push through his move in January.
Explaining the situation last week, Fletcher wrote: ‘Sources have told TEAMtalk that suggestions that Liverpool will wait until Guehi’s contract expires in the summer of 2026, making him a free agent, may be misguided, as transfer chess pieces are already in motion.
‘La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are said to be eyeing Guehi for a January move, adding urgency to Liverpool’s quest to secure the services of the former Chelsea centre-back. However, these reports are to be read with caution.
‘Palace, aware of the risk of losing their captain for nothing next summer, face mounting pressure to cash in during the January transfer window.
‘Clubs often leverage media narratives to spark bidding wars or inflate fees, and Palace’s posturing could be a tactic to extract maximum value.
‘However, Liverpool, known for their shrewd transfer dealings, hold a trump card: Guehi’s desire to join them.
‘Liverpool’s strategy could hinge on a calculated lowball offer in January. By presenting a modest bid, they might tempt Palace to accept less than their desired valuation rather than lose Guehi for free months later.
‘Additionally, Liverpool could reach an agreement in principle with Guehi in January for a summer move, thereby securing his services without a transfer fee.
‘This dual approach – a low offer or an agreement in principle for the summer – puts the Reds in a commanding position.’
That possible move for Guehi comes after Carragher’s proclamation that the failure to sign him from the Eagles on deadline day could come back to haunt the Reds.
“That is the one area where that could come back and blow up in their face because they haven’t really got that (cover),” Carragher said last month on the Stick To Football podcast.
“What Guehi was getting was giving Liverpool competition at centre-back. They haven’t really got that. They’ve got two starters and two understudies.
“Joe Gomez, injury-prone himself, and the young lad from Italy (Leoni), he is going to be a great prospect, but if you think if one of them had to play for a couple of months, it is a big difference.”
Latest Liverpool news: Two huge deals coming; Messi to Anfield joke
It’s not just Guehi that Slot hopes to sign in 2026, with a report naming the mouthwatering triple deal the Reds hope to secure in 2026, with an ‘unflappable’ Premier League star top of their wishlist.
In brighter news, Liverpool are working towards an extension for a player who is fast becoming one of their most important stars, while Slot has sent FSG and owner John Henry a clear message as another crucial squad man is also set to be rewarded with a pay rise.
Elsewhere, claims made by Southampton boss Will Still suggests the shirt-waving antics that led to Hugo Ekitike’s red card for Liverpool on Tuesday evening may have been part of a badly thought-through pre-match promise to the Saints manager.
And finally, and in one of the more bizarre stories of the week, Alexis Mac Allister has revealed what Lionel Messi really thinks about Liverpool and having shared a joke about why a failure to speak Scouse could deny the iconic Argentine a future role at Anfield!