Why €65m Premier League star is the CRITICAL signing Man Utd need

Robin Bairner

• 29 Apr 2024 13:10 BST
• 18 min read

Manchester United’s summer overhaul is set to be far-reaching, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team have set aside one area of the squad in particular to be improved and have been presented with the perfect opportunity to sign their ideal player.

Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi is a player who can elevate Man Utd’s defence another level and, according to the Times, the 23-year-old centre-back is “likely to leave” during the transfer window.

Signing the England international does not promise to be easy. Arsenal are in the running for the defender, who has two years left on his contract, while there is also the possibility that Chelsea attempt to make a move.

READ MORE: Man Utd 'ready to enter talks' with €100m superstar

It is anticipated that Guehi will become Palace’s most expensive sale ever, with his price tag of €65 million higher than the one that took Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Old Trafford in the summer of 2019.

His signing has been described as one that could be “critical” for the Red Devils ahead of their summer rebuild.

READ MORE: Arsenal, Liverpool & Man Utd join race for €65m 'next Caicedo'

Current ETV

Marc Guéhi

D (C)

C. Palace

Marc Guéhi

D (C)

C. Palace

€37.3M

ETV Range

€28M - €46.6M

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Guehi is one for the present and a star for the future

Guehi is a massive upgrade on Man Utd’s current centre-back options, according to data analytics experts SciSports.

This is an area where United are particularly weak, with none of their current crop of central defenders among their 10 best players. Experienced options Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane, who could both feasibly leave this summer, are rated substantially lower than Guehi currently.

The Palace star’s current SciSkill score is 103.9 compared to that of Maguire (91.4) and Varane (98.6). This is calculated using hundreds of in-game data points.

Guehi's development vs Maguire and Varane

Guehi is more rounded than both Maguire and Varane. His positioning is elite, while his prevention is also stronger than either of Man Utd’s current centre-backs. He does not press or recover the ball especially well, but he is by no means bad in this capacity – unlike Varane, who has been in the bottom 21% of Premier League defenders in both metrics this term.

In possession, meanwhile, there is also much to admire about his play. He rates in the top third of Premier League central defenders in passing, crossing, positioning and ball retention. The fact he is not strong at either dribbling or finishing is unlikely to put off United.

Guehi vs Premier League centre-backs: Defensive positioning

His overall potential, meanwhile, is very high. He has the capacity to reach a SciSkill rating of 129.8, which would make him comfortably the best player in the current Red Devils’ squad.

More impressively, this is the seventh-highest potential score of any centre-back in the game currently.

Indeed, he is the only attainable target with Premier League experience in SciSports’ top 15 centre-backs with the most potential.

Guehi, in short, would not only provide Man Utd with an immediate upgrade, he would provide them with a world-class player to develop for the future, and this is exactly what Ratcliffe wants from his project.