Manchester City have bolstered their defensive ranks with the £20m acquisition of Marc Guehi (£5.3m) from Crystal Palace.
The 25-year-old has agreed a five-and-a-half-year contract and could make his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 23.
His arrival follows City’s capture of Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m) from Bournemouth earlier this month.
Following his transfer, we assess Guehi’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) appeal.
FPL HISTORY
| Season | Points | Points per start | Starts | Mins | Goals | Assists | Clean sheets | Bonus | Yellow cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 105 | 5.3 | 20 | 1,800 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
| 2024/25 | 116 | 3.4 | 34 | 3,051 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 7 |
| 2023/24 | 66 | 2.8 | 23 | 2,031 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| 2022/23 | 95 | 2.6 | 37 | 3,328 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 8 |
| 2021/22 | 123 | 3.4 | 36 | 3,218 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 4 |
Guehi has started 150 Premier League matches for Palace since his transfer from Chelsea in 2021, with 20 coming this season.
Throughout the years, he has played in both a back three and a back four, scoring eight goals and providing eight assists.
In FPL, Guehi has played a crucial role in 2025/26, with his ownership currently at 38.1%, making him the most popular defender in the game.
With an average of 5.3 points per start, he’s kept seven clean sheets, banked 16 defensive contribution (DefCon) points and claimed eight bonus, as well as chipping in with six attacking returns, which has helped propel him to fifth in the FPL defender standings.
THE MOVE IN QUOTES
“[He’s a] top central defender, played for the national team. I will say my personal thanks to the club. He is the perfect age for many years, he can play right or left. And him especially because he wanted to choose us. The problem we have at the back in the next few months so it’s really important that he is here.” – Pep Guardiola on Marc Guehi
“It is clear Marc has been one of the best defenders in English football for quite some time now, so we are absolutely delighted to bring him to Manchester City. I feel we have signed a huge talent who will help us improve. He is only 25, but he has shown already he is a leader, a brilliant professional and someone desperate to improve. He is strong, has exceptional defensive qualities, is an intelligent reader of the game, and brings passion and energy every time he steps onto the pitch. I am so pleased it was us he chose to join. Marc is entering the prime years of his career. I am sure every City fan is excited to see how good he can be in a sky blue shirt.” – Hugo Viana on Marc Guehi
“First and foremost, it’s such an honour, such a big club to come and play for. For me, I have always just been obsessed with getting better and wanting to improve and that’s something I am constantly striving for and this is the perfect place for me to do that. I have heard so much about the club and the fans, the players speak for themselves, the manager. It’s definitely the right environment for me to improve and just get better. Hopefully I can bring what I have to the table to help every single person here too.” – Marc Guehi
WHERE DOES GUEHI FIT IN AT CITY?
Guehi’s arrival will help alleviate City’s injury crisis at the back, with centre-halves Ruben Dias (£5.6m), Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) and John Stones (£5.4m) all currently sidelined.
In Saturday’s defeat at Manchester United, Pep Guardiola was compelled to use an inexperienced centre-back duo: Abdukodir Khusanov (5.4m) and Max Alleyne (£4.5m).
And City’s defensive vulnerabilities were clear to see, so Guehi will add some much-needed experience and quality.
Given that Dias is expected to be out for around three to four more weeks, coupled with Stones’ persistent fitness issues and Gvardiol’s likely return only in the final part of the season, Guehi should partner Khusanov at the back.
A POTENTIAL MAN CITY BACK FOUR IN GAMEWEEK 23
Graphic via FotMob line-up builder
CLEAN SHEET POTENTIAL
Only Arsenal (11) have kept more clean sheets than Man City this season, who are tied in second with Chelsea and Everton, with nine shut-outs apiece.
Additionally, no top-flight team except Arsenal have conceded fewer goals, while only Mikel Arteta’s side, Newcastle United and Liverpool can better the Cityzens 22.34 non-penalty expected goals conceded (NPxGC):
There has been a clear deterioration in the above since Dias and Gvardiol’s injuries, but City are near the top across most defensive metrics, as is often the case.
DEFCON POTENTIAL
Playing as a left-sided centre-back in Oliver Glasner’s 3-4-2-1, Guehi has racked up 168 DefCons this season, placing him among the top 20 defenders in FPL.
Above: FPL defenders sorted by defensive contributions (Tot) in 2025/26
16 DefCon points have come about because of this.
However, Guehi’s DefCon returns thus far are partly attributed to the stylistic characteristics of Palace.
To gain a clearer understanding of what to expect, we should look at the DefCon output of City centre-backs Dias and Gvardiol in 2025/26, with a particular focus on Gvardiol, since this is the role we expect Guehi to assume.
As expected, there is a decline, with Gvardiol’s average of 6.91 DefCons per 90 minutes being lower than Guehi’s current rate of 8.40.
Gvardiol has had a few run-outs at left-back, of course, but even left-sided centre-back Alleyne’s average of 7.33 over his last two matches indicates that we’ll see a drop-off.
ATTACKING THREAT
Guehi has already delivered a career-high six attacking returns this season, with two goals and four assists in 20 matches.
It’s the joint-second-most of any FPL defender in 2025/26.
Using the Eye Test feature in our Premium Members Area, we can see that two out of Guehi’s four assists were ‘Fantasy assists’.
In the match against West Ham United, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) nodded in the rebound after goalkeeper Alphonse Areola (£4.3m) had pushed Guehi’s header on to the crossbar.
The second Fantasy assist was recorded when Guehi won a penalty, having been brought down by Bournemouth defender Bafode Diakite (£4.3m) following a corner.
So, both ‘Fantasy assists’ arrived from dead-ball situations, highlighting Guehi’s set-piece threat.
Indeed, Guehi’s first ‘Opta assist’ of 2025/26 followed a similar theme, with a long throw launched into the box by Jefferson Lerma (£4.9m) flicked on by Guehi for Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m) to convert at the far post.
Guehi also scored against Fulham in December, heading in from a corner.
Looking at the underlying stats, Guehi ranks joint-eighth among Fantasy defenders for headed shots, with nine, so his aerial threat from corners and free-kicks is clear.
But Guehi is also assured in possession. For example, his perfectly weighted open-play cross to assist Daniel Munoz (£5.8m) against Burnley in Gameweek 14 was superb. There was his top-corner goal from the edge of the box at Villa Park earlier this season, too.
Furthermore, Guehi has created nine big chances since the start of last season, an impressive tally for a centre-back.
That said, it is worth noting that Guehi has six attacking returns from 3.48 expected goal involvement (xGI), so there has been an element of overperformance.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It all appears pretty promising from a Fantasy perspective, particularly if Guehi can act as a magnet for Rayan Cherki (£6.8m) and Phil Foden’s (£8.6m) set-piece deliveries, while also helping to reinforce Man City’s backline and increase their clean sheet tally.
Guehi could make his debut for City when they host Wolves in Gameweek 23.
For those who already own him, Guehi is naturally a player to hold given that aforementioned fixture, but a City defender probably isn’t a priority for the rest of us, with away trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool to follow.
The next decent fixture swing in City’s favour is in Gameweek 26, so that gives us ample time to assess Guehi’s influence.
Additionally, there may need to be some adaptation to City’s playing style, with increased possession and playing higher up the pitch.
But you’d think Guehi will quickly nail down a place in City’s starting XI, particularly in light of their defensive disaster-class against Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday.
If we see improvement, Guehi can certainly carry appeal when City’s fixtures fall kindly, especially if he drops to £5.2m overnight, as predicted.
