Marc Guehi travelled back to London with the Palace squad on Sunday night.
It was decided that if Liverpool and Palace were able to agree a deal that Marc Guehi would undergo a medical and complete the formalities of his move at the Merseyside club’s London offices before travelling north for his official unveiling.
Between 1.30pm and 3pm, a club-to-club agreement had been concluded and Marc Guehi was given permission by Palace to undergo his medical.
At that moment, Marc Guehi believed he was joining the Premier League champions, who were also about to confirm the capture of Alexander Isak for £125m. He had a medical which was over an hour long.
But Parish did not sit down with Marc Guehi and his advisers until after 6pm following a fitness class at gym in Soho.
Little was Marc Guehi to know that the rug would be pulled from under him, shortly after.
Among the conditions required for Marc Guehi to join Liverpool were that Palace needed suitable defensive replacements before letting him depart.
They have completed the signing of Toulouse Marc centre-back Jaydee Canvot. But at 19, the Frenchman is vastly inexperienced.
Palace approached Manchester City for Manuel Akanji but he was reluctant to move to south London.
Ousmane Diomande of Sporting was the club’s first-choice option, but his £45m price tag was prohibitive. Roma defender Evan Ndicka was another they considered.
On deadline day, however, it emerged that they were in talks over a loan move for Brighton’s Igor Julio.
At one point in the day, it looked as if a deal for Julio was in place only for the player to head east to West Ham.
And with that detour, Marc Guehi’s move to Liverpool effectively collapsed.
Adam Wharton, who has a groin issue, and Ismaila Sarr, who has injured his hamstring, are both expected to be out for at least a month, which did not help matters.
There remained hope of reviving the deal as we approached the 7pm deadline; the fact a deal sheet – an application for a time extension – was filed indicative to how close the transfer was to completion.
But sometimes it is the hope that kills. Parish explaining to Marc Guehi why he could not sanction his move to Liverpool despite agreeing to do so just hours earlier.
How Marc Guehi feels about it all may come up in the fullness of time, but you can imagine it has been difficult to process.
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