Liverpool handed new Marc Guehi headache after U-turn and Arsenal contract agreement

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Marc Guehi may have been the one who got away during a historic summer of spending for Liverpool , but it's no secret that the Premier League champions still have designs on bringing the England defender to Anfield.

Only an eleventh hour U-turn from the Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, prevented Guehi from finalising a switch which was already some way down the line at the start of the month.

A suspected ACL injury suffered by Giovanni Leoni has further underlined Liverpool's need for defensive reinforcements and could even force them to accelerate plans to bring Guehi in.

The only problem is that Guehi has no issues sitting tight until next summer, where he will have his pick of clubs as a free agent. And while Liverpool may still fancy their chances of landing Guehi then, we now know that the former Chelsea man would relish the chance to hold discussions with Real Madrid over a move to the Bernabeu.

Los Blancos are in the market for a new centre-back next summer and have already been linked with some of the Premier League's finest, such as Guehi, Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate and William Saliba. But a move for one of those, at least, is now off the cards with Saliba agreeing to commit his future to Arsenal .

While the mooted five-year deal agreed between player and club is great news for the Gunners, it's anything but for Liverpool. With Saliba out of the picture, Real Madrid's interest in Konate is only likely to intensify, especially with the Frenchman yet to agree a new contract.

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With Leoni now out of the picture for a significant period, Arne Slot is light on central defenders as it is. Losing Konate would need Liverpool requiring two centre-halves next summer. And with Guehi able to field offers from across Europe, there's no guarantee that he will still be a lock to fill one of those two gaps.

The other possible scenario is that Real Madrid do pursue a deal for Guehi and shelve their interest in Konate. That would potentially pave the way for Liverpool to agree a new contract with the latter, but would see them miss out on their No 1 defender target.

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Real Madrid have been long-term admirers of Saliba, but with the France international ready to commit and spend his peak years at Arsenal, all bets are off next summer.

Of course, significant developments could occur long before then, such as if Liverpool do try to rekindle a deal for Guehi in January. But if not, the champions are likely to be affected regardless of who Real Madrid choose to pursue out of Guehi and Konate.

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