Liverpool are closing in on the signing of Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace, with the London side having sealed a transfer agreement worth €55 million.
The Reds have had a spectacular start to the summer transfer window, and after the major signings of Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have turned their attention towards the England centre-back in recent days.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Palace have reached an agreement to sign Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP in a deal that will likely see the 21-year-old move to Selhurst Park as a direct replacement for Guehi.
It reports: “Los Leones are close to reaching an agreement with the English team for the transfer of the player and the value of the deal has already been agreed. Diomande will receive a five-year contract and a millionaire’s salary.”
Diomande had a release clause worth €80m but after exploratory talks, Crystal Palace discovered he was on the market for something between €50-60m. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is €41m.
While a deal has been struck at the €55m mark, it is added that there are still talks over Sporting receiving a percentage of any transfer profit that the Premier League side make over the player in the future.
Diomande had previously been linked with Liverpool as well as Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea.
Guehi pushed towards Liverpool
The expectation is that the deal is confirmation that Guehi will leave the FA Cup winners to join Liverpool a year from becoming a free agent.
While there have been reports that the two clubs are still well adrift when it comes to agreeing a transfer fee for the 24-year-old, the contractual situation of the former Chelsea youth means that Oliver Glasner’s side are under pressure to sell.
Liverpool have so far offered only €23.5m for Guehi – well under Palace’s valuation and far short of the player’s ETV of €51.7m, which is roughly what the South London side want by way of a transfer fee.
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