Marc Guehi's off the record transfer agreement theory after LIV move for target

Liverpool held talks with Crystal Palace over a potential deal for Marc Guehi earlier this month and Sean Dyche has now shared a new theory about the England star's future

Sean Dyche has suggested that Crystal Palace may have reneged on an agreement to let Marc Guehi leave Selhurst Park this summer despite transfer interest in the England star from Liverpool.

Guehi, 25, is now inside the final 12 months of his contract and was expected to move this summer after attracting interest from Newcastle among others last season. Liverpool have emerged as serious contenders for Guehi's signature, however, a deal to take the former Chelsea man to Anfield has yet to materialise.

Talks were held between Liverpool and Palace earlier this month with the Premier League champions prepared to pay £35million for Guehi. Palace, though, are demanding £45m captain, even though they run the risk of losing him on a free transfer next summer.

While it remains to be seen if Liverpool and the Eagles will be able to compromise on a financial package and strike an agreement before the September 1 transfer deadline, Dyche has shared a new theory on the Guehi saga, speculating that Palace and the player may have previously had a 'gentleman's agreement' over a move.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Dyche said: “When you make a lot of signings, you do the agreement for their contract, but we’ll sort out a gentleman's agreement where we say we'll honour the player with an agreement off the record.

“Now you never know whether that's been said there. With Guehi, and I imagine this is what’s happened, probably a year ago, they said, ‘Look, we get it, you're going to stick with us’. And last summer, he stuck with it. Again at Christmas, he stuck with it. They might have said, ‘By next summer, we'll know what's going to happen’.

“And if he's a good professional, which he seems fantastic to me, he doesn’t want to go out there and start saying all that. But at one point, he might have to go, ‘Hang on a minute, they told me that if we do this, this, and this, then they’ll let me have my chance’.

“I've done it, and most managers have done it. You say to the agent, ‘We both know if they do that, we'll get them’. Because there has to be some kind of negotiation, especially when I was at Burnley, because they're not a giant in football, so if a player does well, we couldn't just keep them there.”