England star ready to snub Chelsea and Tottenham to join Liverpool | Football

Liverpool are leading Chelsea and Tottenham in the race to sign a key England player this season.

A number of top clubs have expressed interest in signing Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi following his impressive form for club and country.

Guehi will make his 150th appearance for Palace before the end of the season and was made the club’s captain by former manager and Premier League legend Patrick Vieira.

The 24-year-old has also become a key player for England, starring in their run to the Euro 2024 final last summer.

Guehi’s form during the Euros attracted interest from the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle United, Arsenal, Liverpool and even his boyhood club Chelsea.

After spending a decade in Chelsea’s academy, Guehi made two first-team appearances for the Blues before being sold to Palace for under £20m.

Despite the intense transfer speculation, Guehi stayed at Selhurst Park last summer and during the January transfer window, when he was the subject of a late £70m offer from Tottenham.

Crystal Palace rejected the bid but are braced for more approaches ahead of the summer transfer window, with Spurs and Chelsea linked with moves.

But the Daily Mirror say Liverpool are at the front of the queue to sign Guehi, who would prefer to move to Anfield than any other Premier League club.

Liverpool have endured a miserable week – exiting the Champions League and losing the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle – but Arne Slot’s side are still set to win their 20th league title.

It is claimed Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal could yet rival Liverpool for a move but that as things stand, the Reds are firmly in the driving seat.

Guehi could emerge as Virgil van Dijk’s replacement at Anfield as the Liverpool legend enters the final few months of his contract with the club.

There is still hope that Van Dijk will sign a contract extension but he recently admitted he had ‘no idea’ if he would be staying or leaving.

‘I have no idea. I still have no idea at the moment,’ he said. ‘Genuinely. I have no idea at the moment.

‘It is not on hold. Nothing on hold. There’s just … I keep saying the same thing. Listen, there are ten games to go, and that is my full focus.

‘If there is news, you guys will know it. I don’t even know myself. Everyone knows there are some conversations behind the scenes but that is about it.

‘At the moment, I don’t even know what will happen next year. If anyone says they do know, they are lying to your face.’

Van Dijk’s superb form on Merseyside put Liverpool in contention for a stunning treble.

But Slot’s side lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League just a few days before a Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle.

Speaking after the Wembley loss, Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said: ‘I don’t think we got into our rhythm. I don’t think we played our game, which is hugely frustrating when you play a final.

‘Credit to Newcastle. Their game plan worked and they were perfect and were far from perfect.

‘We had to get the ball down and play and we didn’t do that. We need to analyse it when we come back, it’s still too fresh and too raw to really know what went wrong.’

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