Marc Guehi could be sold this summer, Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has conceded, with just one year remaining on the Eagles captain’s contract.
Palace defeated Liverpool on Sunday in the Community Shield and knocked back offers from Newcastle for the England centre-back in January, with the highest bid thought to be worth in the region of £65m.
But with Guehi yet to sign a new deal and links with Liverpool, who have experienced defensive problems in pre-season, Palace could salvage some value in the player to avoid losing him on a free transfer next summer.
"We'd have to do that, of course," Parish said. "For players of that calibre to leave on a free, it's a problem for us, unfortunately.
"Joachim [Andersen] went [to Fulham last summer] and we couldn't afford to lose both.
"We then had another bid [for Guehi] in January but that was a different situation.
"We'll just have to see what happens. But, you know, it needs a new contract or a conclusion of some kind."
The Independent understands that Liverpool have held an interest in the player over the last year and would consider a move before the end of the window, though the Reds have already splashed out £270m this summer.
Guehi helped the Eagles beat Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday, securing the second piece of silverware under manager Oliver Glasner.
But despite the arrivals of Argentina goalkeeper Walter Benitez from PSV Eindhoven and Croatia defender Borna Sosa from Ajax, Palace have been left frustrated with a lack of signings ahead of a campaign in Europe, either in the Europa League or Conference League, depending on the club’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport following their demotion over multi-club ownership rules.
"It's difficult. We have an outstanding 15 or 16 players, trying to get that level of quality in is hard. The prices - at the end of the day we're Crystal Palace," Parish added.
"The money at every football club is finite at some point. We will do what we can, try and help where we can. We all want to be better at football and we will try and do what we can."
