Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guehi has become Bayern Munich’s top target for defensive reinforcements – in fact, he was already the Bavarians’ No.1 choice this summer, but the deal fell through because sporting director Max Eberl was restricted to "loan-only signings" at the time. Now, with Guehi set to become a free agent next summer (in the same situation as Dayot Upamecano), Bayern have turned their attention to him again, even willing to pay a sign-on fee of less than €20 million (far lower than Upamecano’s €20 million demand back then) – an amount well within Bayern’s budget.
However, Bayern face two major hurdles: first, they need to wait for Upamecano to decide his future (they will only pursue Guehi fully if the French defender leaves), but there is doubt whether Guehi will still be available on the transfer market by then; second, Guehi’s "preferred destination" is not Bayern – sources suggest Real Madrid is his most favored next club. Liverpool also made significant progress in talks for Guehi this summer, while Tottenham Hotspur remains interested. Notably, despite coming through Chelsea’s youth academy, Guehi has not attracted a bid from his former club so far.
More importantly, Guehi has clearly told Crystal Palace he "wants to leave this summer". With multiple top clubs chasing him, this transfer tussle is intensifying. For Bayern to land their target, they not only need to speed up negotiations but also compete with rivals like Real Madrid in a "race for the player".
