Danny Murphy believes Chelsea may live to regret letting Marc Guehi leave the club and feels they should have insisted on including a buy-back clause.
The 23-year-old is maturing into a top-class centre-back since swapping Stamford Bridge for Crystal Palace in 2021 and has earned a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
He has started the last two matches, against Ukraine and Scotland, and is expected to keep his place for upcoming games against Australia and Italy over the next week.
Guehi is now attracting attention from some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham both linked with moves over the summer.
While Murphy understands the decision to let the centre-back leave in search of more regular football, he feels Chelsea should have included a buy-back clause.
‘I think it’s always difficult when players are on a certain journey that doesn’t align with the club,’ said Murphy on talkSPORT.
‘And what I mean by that is he wanted to play every week, he was probably at Chelsea at a time where players ahead of him were rightly ahead of him.
‘And although you might see this potential and this emerging talent for a year or two years down the line, if he’s completely unsettled and there’s a value to get him gone and take the money for him and let him go, you [do that].
‘I mean, they should’ve put a buy-back clause in of a reasonable amount maybe.’
Guehi is the latest in a long line of academy players Chelsea may regret selling, with Fikayo Tomori also part of the latest England squad after excelling since leaving Stamford Bridge for AC Milan.
Chelsea have spent big over the past year to overhaul their back-line, with the likes of Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana all signed for big money.
The club also have Thiago Silva, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah to call upon, with Mauricio Pochettino not exactly light on options at the back – at least when everyone is fit.
Guehi has made seven appearances in the Premier League this season, helping Palace keep a league-high four clean sheets in the process, while he was virtually ever-present last season, starting all but one league match.