Marc Guehi and an FA Cup campaign like no other: ‘My football life is just crazy’

Marc Guehi was knocked out of the FA Cup while at Crystal Palace, yet he could still lift the trophy with Man City (Getty)

Marc Guehi stands on the brink of a rare double in the FA Cup. He has, however, already completed one. Few can testify more to the highs and lows the oldest competition of them all offers, the combination of ecstasy and ignominy.

In consecutive appearances in the competition, the England defender helped inflict one of the greatest shocks in an FA Cup final and then suffered one of the biggest in any round. Guehi’s return to Wembley on Saturday is complicated, and not merely because he faces his former club Chelsea.

A year ago, he was in the FA Cup final, as were Manchester City. But not together. Guehi captained Crystal Palace to the first major trophy in their 120-year history. Yet after the rise, came the fall. The holders were knocked out in January by sixth-tier Macclesfield, a non-league club 117 places below them.

Guehi lifted Palace’s first major trophy, with victory against City in last season’s FA Cup final (Getty)

And, in every previous campaign, that would have been Guehi’s FA Cup over. Not following a rule change. Nine days later, he joined City. And for the first time, players eliminated from the competition with one club were allowed to play in it for another.

So Guehi’s FA Cup could be both the gory and the glory. No wonder, perhaps, that the defender said: “I feel like my football life is just crazy. There's no consistency to it. It's just very unpredictable. And it's quite fun.”

Largely, anyway: an under-hit back pass at Everton last week gifted Thierno Barry a goal and shaped the Premier League title race. “It's inevitable that someone's going to make a mistake at some point,” said Guehi. He was affected by it and had been in apologetic mode before. At Macclesfield, he went over to the travelling, and irate, Palace supporters on the final whistle.

“I just felt like I owed the fans, not an explanation, but I owed the fans at least for their voices to be heard because they're such a big part of football,” he said. “And in that moment, it was low for them, but that's just another part of life, I guess.”

Palace’s FA Cup defence was ended by sixth-tier Macclesfield in one of the competition’s greatest shocks (Getty)

It brought his Palace life to an end, an inappropriate end to an outstanding spell. Guehi left as the most decorated captain in their history. Had he stayed – his contract was due to expire this summer – there could have been another final, but in the Conference League in Leipzig next Wednesday. Instead, he set to start City’s fourth consecutive FA Cup final.

“I know how much it means to them to win trophies, especially FA Cup and the history that it has behind and also the record breaking, getting to this part of the competition again,” he said. His part in the 2025 final, City’s second consecutive defeat at this stage, was referenced in a few jokes when he joined. “There were a couple,” he smiled.

His new teammates have silver medals to show for the 2025 final. He has gold. He could join Brian Talbot and Olivier Giroud in an elite group to win consecutive FA Cup finals for different clubs. One way or another, Guehi gravitates towards finals, even if his experience of them can be very different.

Marc Guehi will feature against Chelsea, another of his former clubs, in the FA Cup final (PA Wire)

He was arguably England’s finest player in Euro 2024, when his centre-back partner was a man whose City career he may have helped to end, in John Stones. In 2025, he won both the FA Cup and the Community Shield. In 2026, he was ineligible for the Carabao Cup final; in a further complication, Antoine Semenyo, another January arrival, was permitted to play, because he had arrived before the semi-final first leg. Guehi tried to be phlegmatic about it. “I guess taking a backseat was probably the best thing for me,” he said. “It was great just to see what the guys were able to achieve against such a formidable opponent in Arsenal. And it was great to see the mentality and just learn.”

He had come close to joining Liverpool on deadline day in the summer. His eventual £20m move to City, he said, was a case of “right timing, right place”. Right partner, too, given that Guehi has formed a fine partnership with Abdukodir Khusanov. The Englishman has brought more experience and assurance on the ball, one error apart. The electric Uzbekistani brings the pace. Communicating with him had posed problems, given he arrived from Lens speaking Uzbek, Russian and a little French. Guehi at least is fluent in the last, which helps establish an understanding with Khusanov. “Sometimes I speak in French, but mostly it's in English,” he said. “Khusa’s English is very good.”

Guehi has formed a solid partnership with Abdukodir Khusanov and the pair appear to be the future of City’s defence (Getty)

And Guehi’s development into the finest English centre-back under 30 could reflect badly on the club who produced him. He only made two appearances for Chelsea, both in the Carabao Cup, before being sold to Palace in 2021. If it is easy to say Chelsea could do with him now, Guehi argues he was not unfairly overlooked.

“I don't feel like I should be gifted any opportunities or even deserve any opportunities. I think for me it was more of a realistic decision,” he explained. “I think the club understood that and I think everyone should understand that. I came off the back of a loan at Swansea. The football club had just won the Champions League. And so for a young man to come in and say, 'I should be playing or deserve minutes', I think it'd be kind of ridiculous.”

So Guehi’s journey instead took him to City via Palace. But while he is becoming a cup king, the story of his season involves Macclesfield and Wembley. Now an FA Cup campaign like no other could produce the same outcome, with Guehi celebrating again.