Addji Keaninkin Marc-Israel Guéhi (; born 13 July 2000) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a centre-back for club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and the England national team. Guéhi came through the youth system at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

before spending two seasons on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

at Swansea City. He joined Crystal Palace in July 2021, becoming the club's third most expensive signing. He has represented England at youth level and was a regular starter in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup winning squad.

Early life

Guéhi was born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

, Ivory Coast, and moved with his family to London, England, at one year of age. His father was a minister of a local church, meaning his childhood often focused on religion and education over football. He began playing in the

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

youth system aged six and was coached by a scout from

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

. After two years with the

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

club, he signed for Chelsea and progressed through the academy.

Club career

Chelsea

Progressing through the youth ranks, Guéhi regularly featured for the under-18s during their treble-winning campaign in 2017. In September 2017, he signed his first professional contract, for three years. The following season, he helped the under-18s win a quadruple and reach the final of the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

. On 12 May 2019, Guéhi was named in a Premier League squad for the first time as a substitute in a 0–0 draw away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He featured as an unused substitute a further three times during the 2019–20 season. On 17 September, he was an unused substitute in a 1–0 defeat to

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. The following week, he made his professional debut in a 7–1 win against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

in the EFL Cup third round. His second and final appearance for the club came in a 2–1 defeat to Manchester United in the Fourth Round on 30 October.

Loan to Swansea City

On 10 January 2020, Guéhi joined Championship club Swansea City on

for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. The move saw him re-unite with Steve Cooper, who had previously managed him in England's 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup winning squad. After being named as an unused substitute on two occasions, Guéhi made his debut in a 2–0 defeat to Stoke City on 25 January. He remained in the starting XI for the next four games, but came under criticism after Swansea failed to win any of their last five games. Cooper backed the defender and stated "it's difficult for young players to make an instant impact". Following a three-month pause due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Guéhi was named on the bench twice before returning as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

. On 5 July, he made his first start in five months in a 2–1 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

. He started in all five of Swansea's remaining league matches and helped guide the team to sixth place and a play-off position. He featured in both legs of the semi-final as Swansea lost 3–2 on aggregate to Brentford. On 26 August 2020, Guéhi returned to Swansea on loan for the 2020–21 season. He became an ever-present figure in defence with only four Swansea players appearing for more minutes throughout the campaign. Guéhi began the season with three consecutive clean sheets against Preston North End,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

, and went on to keep a further 14 in the league as Swansea finished fourth. He played every minute of their play-off campaign, beating Barnsley 2–1 across the semi-finals before a 2–0 final defeat to Brentford.

Crystal Palace

On 18 July 2021, Guéhi joined

on a five-year contract for a reported fee of £18 million, making him the club's third-most expensive signing of all-time, behind

Christian Benteke Christian Benteke Liolo (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club D.C. United and the Belgium national team. Benteke began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in ...

and Mamadou Sakho. It was also reported that Chelsea had included sell-on incentives and the right to match any offers made for Guéhi in future.

International career

Guéhi captained the England national under-17 team at the

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

in May 2017. He played in every match at the competition, scoring an own goal in the opening 3–1 win against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. England went on to lose on penalties to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the final. In October 2017, he was included in the squad for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. On 28 October, he scored the fourth goal in a 5–2 victory against Spain as England were crowned world champions. In October 2018, Guéhi progressed to the England under-19 team and scored in a friendly against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He also scored in 2019 Elite Qualifiers against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. In August 2019, Guéhi was included in an England under-21 squad for the first time. On 6 September 2021, Lee Carsley confirmed Guéhi as captain of the under-21s. Guéhi received his first call-up to the England senior team in March 2022 as part of

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup ...

's squad for friendly matches against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. He made his senior debut in a 2–1 win over Switzerland at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

on 26 March.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

England U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

runner-up:

Individual *

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Profile
at the Crystal Palace F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guehi, Marc 2000 births Living people Footballers from Abidjan English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Cray Wanderers F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers England men's international footballers Black British sportsmen English people of Ivorian descent Ivorian emigrants to the United Kingdom