‘He’s the loser’ – Roy Hodgson urges Crystal Palace to avoid Wilfried Zaha repeat after Marc Guehi deal collapses

Former Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson feels ‘really sorry’ for Marc Guehi after the defender was denied a dream move to Liverpool. However, Hodgson warned the south London club against throwing money at Guehi in a bid to prolong his stay at Selhurst Park and pointed to his own experiences with Wilfried Zaha as a reason why. Guehi is still a Crystal Palace player… for nowGetty How Guehi’s move to Liverpool collapsed Guehi looked set to join Liverpool for £35million on a manic transfer deadline day having completed his medical in London. So far down the line was Guehi’s move, an exit video commemorating the England international’s time at Palace was created. That same video was later leaked when the deal collapsed as Palace failed to land Igor Julio, who had been earmarked as Guehi’s replacement, on loan for the season. After the Igor move fell through, talkSPORT understands Eagles boss Oliver Glasner informed the club hierarchy he would quit in the event Guehi was sold and no replacements were signed. Roy Hodgson’s verdict on the Marc Guehi saga For Hodgson, who was a distant observer this transfer window, the saga left him with a sour taste given the mixed messages Guehi would have received from Palace throughout. “I worked with him for a year-and-a-half,” Hodgson said on talkSPORT Breakfast. “I found him an outstanding individual, not just an outstanding footballer. That’s been shown quite clearly during this long, drawn-out saga. “He’s the person I feel really sorry for because if right at the beginning it had been made clear his task ahead would be to stay at Crystal Palace and there’d be no question he’d be leaving in the transfer window, then I’m sure he would have got his head around that. “But having been led to believe sooner or later a deal would be done between the clubs, I guess that his head for the last period of time has been he was going to move. He’s the loser in the situation. “Palace should be the winner because he’s such a good player and to have a player, captain and leader of that calibre should be advantageous. But it remains to be seen how upset he may have been by what’s happened during these past few hours. Hodgson felt Guehi deserved better from Palace in the summer window just goneGetty “I think the transfer situation could have been sorted out much quicker between both clubs.” With Guehi now in the final year of his contract, Palace are at risk of losing him for nothing at the end of the season unless they decide to sell him in January or convince him to sign a new deal. However, Hodgson believes the latter option could cause serious financial trouble in the years to come and used mercurial winger Zaha as a case study. Why Hodgson wants Palace to avoid repeating Zaha mistake Thanks to his electric performances on the wing under Hodgson’s tutelage, Zaha generated interest from a raft of Premier League teams. But in a bid to keep the star happy and fend off interest from rivals, Palace handed him a fresh five-year deal with improved terms in May 2017 and August 2018. Unfortunately for Palace it had a wide-ranging effect on the club’s wage bill, so much so that Eagles chief executive Steve Parish still expresses his regret to Hodgson regarding Zaha’s contracts to this day. Zaha played 138 times under Hodgson, scoring 35 goals and contributing 15 assistsGETTY Zaha, who was the club’s top earner on weekly wages of £130,000, eventually left Palace at the end of his contract in 2023 and moved to Galatasaray. When asked by talkSPORT host Jeff Stelling whether Guehi could be enticed to stay at Palace on a bigger deal, Hodgson replied: “Anything is possible. “We did that for years with Wilfried Zaha. But of course, the problem with that, and Steve (Parish) tells me privately he regretted that his wages put him on such a pedestal at the club, partly because it meant the wage bill of the club went up enormously. “Once you double someone’s wages in the club because you want to keep him, unfortunately you end up doubling a good 20, 30, 40 per cent of most of the other players.”

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‘He’s the loser’ – Roy Hodgson urges Crystal Palace to avoid Wilfried Zaha repeat after Marc Guehi deal collapses

Former Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson feels ‘really sorry’ for Marc Guehi after the defender was denied a dream move to Liverpool.

However, Hodgson warned the south London club against throwing money at Guehi in a bid to prolong his stay at Selhurst Park and pointed to his own experiences with Wilfried Zaha as a reason why.

Guehi is still a Crystal Palace player… for now

How Guehi’s move to Liverpool collapsed

Guehi looked set to join Liverpool for £35million on a manic transfer deadline day having completed his medical in London.

So far down the line was Guehi’s move, an exit video commemorating the England international’s time at Palace was created.

That same video was later leaked when the deal collapsed as Palace failed to land Igor Julio, who had been earmarked as Guehi’s replacement, on loan for the season.

After the Igor move fell through, talkSPORT understands Eagles boss Oliver Glasner informed the club hierarchy he would quit in the event Guehi was sold and no replacements were signed.

Roy Hodgson’s verdict on the Marc Guehi saga

For Hodgson, who was a distant observer this transfer window, the saga left him with a sour taste given the mixed messages Guehi would have received from Palace throughout.

“I worked with him for a year-and-a-half,” Hodgson said on talkSPORT Breakfast.

“I found him an outstanding individual, not just an outstanding footballer. That’s been shown quite clearly during this long, drawn-out saga.

“He’s the person I feel really sorry for because if right at the beginning it had been made clear his task ahead would be to stay at Crystal Palace and there’d be no question he’d be leaving in the transfer window, then I’m sure he would have got his head around that.

“But having been led to believe sooner or later a deal would be done between the clubs, I guess that his head for the last period of time has been he was going to move. He’s the loser in the situation.

“Palace should be the winner because he’s such a good player and to have a player, captain and leader of that calibre should be advantageous. But it remains to be seen how upset he may have been by what’s happened during these past few hours.

Hodgson felt Guehi deserved better from Palace in the summer window just gone

“I think the transfer situation could have been sorted out much quicker between both clubs.”

With Guehi now in the final year of his contract, Palace are at risk of losing him for nothing at the end of the season unless they decide to sell him in January or convince him to sign a new deal.

However, Hodgson believes the latter option could cause serious financial trouble in the years to come and used mercurial winger Zaha as a case study.

Why Hodgson wants Palace to avoid repeating Zaha mistake

Thanks to his electric performances on the wing under Hodgson’s tutelage, Zaha generated interest from a raft of Premier League teams.

But in a bid to keep the star happy and fend off interest from rivals, Palace handed him a fresh five-year deal with improved terms in May 2017 and August 2018.

Unfortunately for Palace it had a wide-ranging effect on the club’s wage bill, so much so that Eagles chief executive Steve Parish still expresses his regret to Hodgson regarding Zaha’s contracts to this day.

Zaha played 138 times under Hodgson, scoring 35 goals and contributing 15 assists

Zaha, who was the club’s top earner on weekly wages of £130,000, eventually left Palace at the end of his contract in 2023 and moved to Galatasaray.

When asked by talkSPORT host Jeff Stelling whether Guehi could be enticed to stay at Palace on a bigger deal, Hodgson replied: “Anything is possible.

“We did that for years with Wilfried Zaha. But of course, the problem with that, and Steve (Parish) tells me privately he regretted that his wages put him on such a pedestal at the club, partly because it meant the wage bill of the club went up enormously.

“Once you double someone’s wages in the club because you want to keep him, unfortunately you end up doubling a good 20, 30, 40 per cent of most of the other players.”