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Marc Guehi: England & Crystal Palace defender can be a Euro 2024 emerging star

One of Guehi’s biggest strengths is his calm nature on the ball and how he deals with high-pressure situations.

In the Premier League his passing accuracy of 87.2% last season was higher than Maguire and highly rated Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, who did not make the final 26-man Euros squad.

For England that stat goes up to 95.1% – better than Maguire and Stones.

Guehi is also quick. His top speed in the 2023-24 Premier League season of 33.92km/h ranked him in the top 30 centre-backs in the league – perhaps not the quickest of the lot, but faster than Lewis Dunk, Stones or Maguire.

Southgate has been introducing Guehi gradually, along with a number of young players, but he has emerged as the centre-back to step in if Stones or Maguire are unavailable.

Guehi started the important Euro qualifier away from home against Ukraine in Poland, plus the match away from home against rivals Scotland, and came on for Stones in the win over Italy which secured qualification for the tournament which starts on Friday.

The centre-back has been a key player and occasional captain for Palace over the last three seasons – and is a former England Under-21 skipper.

Guehi’s relative young age, Premier League experience and his ability to play in the left-sided centre-back position mean that he is highly admired by many teams.

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher has played with Guehi since they were young players in the Blues academy.

They were team-mates for Palace in the Premier League, when Gallagher was on loan at Selhurst Park, and now they have united on the international stage with England.

“I think he’ll be brilliant if he does [start the Serbia match],” Gallagher said.

“Top guy, top player – I couldn’t be happier if he started some games at the tournament. He has been brilliant for Crystal Palace and England when he has played. He’s more than ready, for sure.

“He’s very professional, great leader as well. I think he has got everything you need to be a top defender.”


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