Marc Guehi To Real Madrid Is Terrible News For An Entire Nation

IPSWICH, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace looks on, whilst wearing a rainbow coloured Captains Armband which reads “Jesus hearts You” (obscured), during the Premier League match between Ipswich Town FC and Crystal Palace FC at Portman Road on December 03, 2024 in Ipswich, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

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Around seven weeks before Marc Guehi was born, Real Madrid won the Champions League in Paris.

The title underlined the Spanish giants’ re-emergence as the continent’s dominant side, having claimed the crown just two years earlier.

In England, the victory also held significance. The scorer of the second goal was Steve McManaman, who became the first Englishman to win Europe’s top prize with a team outside the country.

Although Manchester United were the Champions League holders that season, the 2000 all-Spanish final between Real Madrid and Valencia underlined the way in which the Iberian nation was dominating the European stage.

The successive two finals would also be contested by La Liga sides, with Real claiming the crown once again in 2002.

By contrast, in the season before Guehi was born, his current team, Crystal Palace, was pleased to have avoided relegation from England’s second tier. A sign of the underwhelming campaign could be judged by veteran defender Andy Linighan being named player of the year.

Any suggestion back then that the European Champions might want to sign a defender from South Londoners would have been greeted with roars of laughter. Even the most diehard Eagle would acknowledge that the two clubs operated on different planets in soccer terms.

Even lower down England’s pyramid was Bournemouth, who had also avoided relegation to the fourth tier. The idea that this lower division outfit might have a talent worthy of the Bernabeu would have got looks of concern – how could anyone in their right mind think that?

Yet fast-forward a quarter of a century, and there is the very real prospect that Real Madrid could have a central defence pairing signed from Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.

Guehi is a target for Real Madrid, who bought Dean Huijsen from the Cherries in the summer.

And as Spanish soccer expert Guillem Balague explained, the deal makes sense for the Spanish giants.

“Real Madrid do hold an interest in Marc Guehi, and he fits a clear squad need at centre-back,” he wrote on the BBC website earlier this week.

“Dean Huijsen has emerged as a starter, but Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger have both had injury issues. Rudiger is now in his thirties, Raul Asencio has not fully convinced and David Alaba has lost pace after a long spell on the sidelines.

“Guehi, a proven Premier League defender with personality, speed and plenty of good decisions, is seen as the kind of stabilising presence who can challenge immediately for minutes.

“His case sits alongside Madrid’s broader market strategy: three kinds of deals. First, the young talent who can grow into a superstar. Second, the ‘free’ but established player, where heavy signing-on fees replace transfer costs (the case of Guehi next summer).

“And third, the big-fee signing reserved for specific players viewed as instant starters.”

We should not underestimate the remarkable nature of Real Madrid’s potential acquisitions from Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.

Neither English club plays in a stadium that is particularly larger or grander than it was 25 years ago, nor have they had some earth-shattering takeover that turned them into a super club-although Bournemouth did receive significant investment to progress through the divisions.

No, it is because in the first part of the 21st century, thanks to spiralling domestic broadcast revenues, England has established itself as the world’s richest and most powerful league.

Simply remaining in the division is now enough to give a traditionally lower-level team, such as Bournemouth or Crystal Palace, the funds and prestige to attract talent that can then be sold to a European giant.

Last year, Palace sold Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, where the attacking midfielder has become an essential part of the German championship-winning side.

This summer, Bournemouth also flogged Huijsen’s center-back partner, Ilya Zabarnyi, to Paris Saint-Germain.

This might be great for these two teams, but it’s terrible news for the rest of Europe and Spain in particular.

Valencia Relegated Below Bournemouth And Palace

Consider the plight of the defeated finalists in 2000: Valencia.

After losing the 2000 final to Real Madrid, the Spanish side embarked on a $70 million transfer spree.

The investment delivered two La Liga titles and another appearance in the Champions League final the following year.

It was the type of figure that would have felt like monopoly money to Bournemouth and Palace back then, whose total revenue was only a few million dollars.

However, today the scales have entirely tipped in the opposite direction.

The two English sides’ revenue is around a quarter of a billion dollars; Valencia barely makes half of that.

This is remarkable because Valencia is one of Spain’s most prestigious clubs, with 21 major honors to its name, including six La Liga titles and eight European crowns.

The club plays in a 50,000-capacity stadium, which is double the size of Palace’s Selhurst Park and five times larger than Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.

However, the broadcast and commercial revenues that Premier League sides now earn surpass even those of one of Spain’s giants.

It is worth noting that other factors contributed to Valencia’s decline, including poor financial management and massive overspending in the 2000s, which continue to affect the club today.

However, the uncomfortable truth for Europe is that it has never been difficult for former continental giants to catch up with English sides with modest reputations, let alone superpowers.

Real Madrid’s interest in Guehi underlines that trend and it’s bad news for Spain.