Rio Ferdinand has accused Crystal Palace of 'bullying' Marc Guehi into staying at the club after the England defender missed out on a deadline day move to Liverpool. The former Manchester United captain suggested Guehi could have secured his dream transfer by adopting a more aggressive approach, similar to Alexander Isak's tactics this summer.
Guehi, 25, narrowly missed a £35 million switch to Anfield on deadline day following months of speculation. He is now expected to leave on a free transfer next summer or for a reduced fee in January. Ferdinand contrasted Guehi's polite and respectful behaviour with Isak's confrontational tactics, which saw the Swedish striker force a £130 million move to Merseyside.
'Isak has muscled his way out,' Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel. 'He's gone and said, 'Listen, I'm not gonna play. I'm sitting down.' He caused a ruckus and got his move.' Guehi, by contrast, trained and played as normal, maintaining Palace supporters' backing but missing out on what Ferdinand called a 'dream move to the champions.'
Ferdinand argued that Palace exploited Guehi's non-confrontational nature. 'Because they knew he wasn't gonna fight, they bully him,' he said. 'A dream move taken away from a young man because he wasn't being bullish.' He warned aspiring footballers to fight for their ambitions, though his stance clashes with Guehi's principles.
BBC Sport reported that Guehi wanted 'Liverpool or nothing.' Palace pursued Brighton's Igor Julio as a replacement, but the Brazilian chose West Ham on loan instead. The Eagles did sign 19-year-old Jaydee Canvot from Toulouse as a development player.
