‘World at his feet’ – Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi is a special talent who is still developing

EXCLUSIVE
BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk

There is a phrase coined by those within the Chelsea academy which encapsulates Marc Guehi – ‘top players don’t make top people, it’s top people that make top players’.

There was always an odds-on chance that the 22-year-old was going to reach the Premier League and the top international stage.

But nearly two seasons after the Lewisham-raised defender made the decision to leave the loan cycle at Chelsea for a permanent place in Crystal Palace’s Premier League side, Guehi has established himself as one of the best up-and-coming centre-backs in the division.

“He’s always had that aura about him where he knew what he was doing and knew he was more than capable of making that step up to the Premier League,” former Swansea team-mate Wayne Routledge told the South London Press.

“It hasn’t surprised me at all. If anything, it surprised me that people hadn’t seen it as early as I saw it.

“He’s got a real air of calmness about him. For someone so young, a lot of things that he does on the pitch, you see people that are way beyond his age doing.

“What Marc does, you would expect to be coming from someone in their late 20s or early 30s.

“I saw it towards the end of our time together at Swansea. It was an air of confidence on the pitch – he was assured of his place and knew what he was doing. It made him stand out so much more than others.”

Guehi’s grounding came from Chelsea. He came through at the Cobham-based academy alongside the likes of Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and Conor Gallagher, and was a crucial part of Jody Morris’ U18 side that completed the quadruple at youth level.

His dominance in academy football was also spotted at international level, with Steve Cooper starting Guehi in every match as England U17s won the 2017 World Cup .

“Chelsea help you develop as people and as players,” Blues keeper Nathan Baxter told the South London Press.

“The behaviour they expect of you is as important as football. That’s what allows him to be captain, at times, of Palace at such a young age.

“The environment you grow up in is challenging. It toughens you up, but it’s also a great culture. It develops good people – Marc is certainly one of those.

“You never saw lads like Marc turn up late or not train hard. We were all brought up to do that. We had some brilliant coaches who instilled those right values.

“If you look at a lot of the lads who have broken into the Chelsea first team, although they’re very good footballers, they’re also great human beings who conduct themselves in the right way.

“He was always very calm on the ball and very quick. He always worked very hard. Marc was outstanding, but the whole team was too.

“I don’t think anyone who grows up in that environment and goes on to have a good loan in the Championship, as he did, would be surprised about what he has done.”

Guehi graduated with flying colours from the academy, making his Chelsea debut in the EFL Cup win against Grimsby Town and starting the following round at home to Manchester United.

He was on the fringes of Frank Lampard’s Chelsea first team in 2019 but decided to head out on an 18-month loan to link up with former England boss Cooper at Swansea City in the Championship.

“The coaches, facilities and environment at the Chelsea academy is incredible – you can see that with the players they develop,” added ex-Palace winger Routledge. “But the one thing they can’t give beyond that development is the experience of first-team football.

“The most important thing for Marc at Swansea was allowing him to experience first-team football and that first-team environment.

“He gained the trust of the players, the staff and everyone around him. Once you do that, you see boys flourish at that age.

“With Marc, he was so assured. He had moments where that self-confidence maybe faded a little bit. But after a draw away to Millwall in his first season, it was like watching a flower bloom. He came out of his shell. From there, his rise has been incredible.”

Guehi featured 59 times for the Swans – reaching the play-offs twice and losing agonisingly at the last hurdle in a 2-0 defeat to Brentford at Wembley at the second time of asking.

“It wasn’t just in games, you would see it in training too – it was almost like he had already foreseen what was about to happen,” said Routledge, who played 22 times alongside Guehi during their time together in South Wales. “Everyone is strong, fast and physical, but to be able to read the game and see it before others, it’s gold.”

It’s reported that Palace scouted Guehi 19 times across an 18-month period before deciding to swoop for the Ivory Coast-born defender in the summer of 2021 to be one of the central pieces of their rebuild.

The Eagles shelled out £18million – at the time their third most expensive transfer – to secure Guehi’s services on a five-year deal.

Guehi formed a distinguished partnership with Joachim Andersen and played a pivotal role in Palace finishing 12th and reaching an FA Cup semi-final. He was even handed the captaincy, in the absence of other senior players, at just 21.

Routledge said: “It was an unbelievable statement. Firstly, because you’re captaining a Premier League club at that age. And secondly, the person (Patrick Vieira) who gave it to him knows all about football and what it takes to reach the very top.

“For him [Vieira] to have given him that honour and responsibility says a huge thing about where he is and where he could go in the future.

“He has every attribute that you need at this level. The trajectory he’s on is very fast. If he stays on it, we know where he’s going to be in three or five years.”

Despite being included in the previous three England squads in the build-up to the 2022 World Cup, competition, Guehi was not named in the 26-man party for Qatar. But it is only a small blip.

Guehi had already caught the eye of returning Palace boss and ex-England chief Roy Hodgson, who tipped the centre-back to be a future Three Lions captain in his first post-match press conference after replacing Vieira.

As Guehi closes in on the end of his second season with Palace, the question is about how much longer they can keep hold of him. Tottenham are admirers of the defender.

“You rely on him to do his job,” added Routledge.

“He’s someone who comes in, wants to be the best he can be and show he can do his job and be one of the best around. I respect him for that.”

Guehi not only plays like a footballer with vast experience, it’s also a trait ingrained in his character.

“Marc is second to none,” Palace defender Joel Ward, who is joint ninth in the club’s all-time appearance list with 328 matches, told the South London Press after the 2-1 win against Leicester City.

“He’s only just kind of scratched the surface. If he continues to move in the direction that he is, he’s got the world at his feet.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD AND PA