The focus before Crystal Palace’s goalless draw with Aston Villa centred on Marc Guehi’s future, but it was a promising young centre-back who took the attention by full-time.

Jaydee Canvot was sought after in the summer, with Villa one of Palace’s main rivals for his signature. There have been errors in a mixed start to his career, but they have been combined with some excellent moments and solid performances. 

Against Villa, who had scored in each of their past 13 games, Palace’s defensive unit held firm, marshalled by Guehi, who was aided adeptly by his young partner. The 19-year-old Canvot will benefit from Guehi’s leadership in Palace’s back three. 

That benefit, though, assumes the Palace captain remains at the club for the next six months, something that is far from certain with interest particularly from Manchester City and after Glasner opened the door to a potential exit this month during his press conference on Tuesday.

“I’m not naive,” Glasner said. “If a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen. If you’re just valuing sports, everyone in the club will say Marc has to stay. The chairman will tell you the same. But it’s not one-dimensional. If you see the financial situation, it’s very important.

“Everybody wants him to play for Crystal Palace, sign a new contract and stay here forever. His contract ends in the summer and if somebody comes… there will be a moment when the club says: now the financial issue is more important than the sports issue.

“We have to do it and try to get the best one (replacement) we can get to be as successful as possible. There will be a threshold where the club has to say it will happen, as long as Marc says ‘I want to leave’, because the final decision is always with the player.”

Glasner has opened the door to a potential exit this month (Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images)

Glasner’s intervention — what he deems a recommendation — denied Guehi a move to Liverpool in the summer. But his comments make clear that, while he would not welcome the departure of his captain, his position has softened slightly.

Palace have compelling reasons to keep the 25-year-old, but also pressure, given his guaranteed exit when his contract expires in the summer, to consider selling.

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Reasons to sell Guehi

The main reason is financial. Palace could recoup the £18million they paid Chelsea in summer 2021 and make a small profit. That would go some way to help bolster the squad, possibly bringing in another centre-back as a replacement and reducing the need for more work in the summer.

From a non-footballing perspective and removing any kind of emotion, it would be sensible to sell, given they will not receive anything in the summer.

Yet there are footballing arguments to sell, too.

There were 87 minutes played against Villa when Emiliano Buendia threatened to deny Palace a much-needed clean sheet. But Canvot ushered Buendia off the pitch to earn a goal kick and snuff out a potentially dangerous attack. The Selhurst Park crowd acknowledged him and his centre-back partner Maxence Lacroix patted him on the back. By itself, it was unremarkable, but it summed up a wise, strong performance. 

It is too early, and Canvot has been too inconsistent to suggest he would be a ready-made replacement for Guehi, but it should give some confidence that if he were to leave, the French teenager could step up. It would also be an excellent grounding for Canvot to play week-in, week-out for the rest of the season.

Jaydee Canvot impressed against Villa (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Chris Richards has impressed, and alongside Lacroix, with Jefferson Lerma and potentially even Nathaniel Clyne, to help with Canvot, maybe Palace can make do and mend without Guehi until the summer.

Naturally, as Glasner indicates, these factors are only relevant if any fee Palace receive was above their threshold.

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Reasons to keep Guehi

By far the most convincing and important reason is that Guehi’s talent is impossible to match. The confidence with which he carries the ball out, the way he leads by example, his positioning and the timing of his challenges are all irreplaceable.

If Palace have ambitions to win the Conference League and push further up the Premier League table, then selling Guehi is a huge risk. Not only because losing his talent and soft skills would be troubling, but because they are light on numbers. Further defensive injuries would put them in a position of relying on an unfamiliar backline.

There is no guarantee anyone would come in to replace him and clubs would be aware of Palace’s situation, potentially increasing prices. Any new arrival would take time to bed in, learn the system and understand the role they play. There is no pre-season or ample training sessions to assimilate. Palace do not have the luxury of time.

The fee received would be some way below Guehi’s true value, and the threshold must be high to make it worth selling. That money might seem tempting, but it could also reduce their league position and therefore prize money, risk dumping them out of the Conference League and potentially the FA Cup, too. 

This could have been Guehi’s last appearance at Selhurst Park, given Palace’s openness to a deal at the right price. If an offer does materialise, then any decision would have to balance the logical financial benefit with the advantage he offers on the pitch.

The hope would have to be that any offer is so high that it significantly outweighs the downsides of selling, but that is probably unrealistic. The question is where the threshold lies, and it is in many ways an unenviable position to be in.