Report: Palace's Guehi on verge of joining Man City for around £20M

Manchester City agreed a deal in principle to sign Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guehi, according to BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel.

City stepped up their interest in the English international over the past 24 hours and are expected to announce a deal soon. The fee for Guehi, whose Palace contract was due to expire in June, will amount to around £20 million, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reports.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner - who revealed Friday that he would leave the club in the summer - said Guehi wouldn't feature Saturday against Sunderland because a move was "in the final stages," per Mokbel. Glasner didn't identify the club that was potentially buying the Eagles' FA Cup-winning captain.

Bayern Munich and Liverpool were targeting a free transfer for the 25-year-old defender once his Palace terms expired at the end of the season, according to Agence France-Presse. Liverpool reportedly had a £35-million move in place last summer, but Palace apparently scrapped the deal after failing to find a replacement.

City's increased their efforts to bring Guehi aboard in January in the wake of injuries to Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol. John Stones hasn't started a Premier League fixture since October and last appeared as a substitute on Dec. 2 due to his own fitness issues. Twenty-year-old defender Max Alleyne was recalled from his loan spell with Watford on Jan. 5 and immediately started City's next three games against Brighton & Hove Albion, Exeter City, and Newcastle United.

Manchester City signed attacker Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth last week for a reported initial £62.5-million sum.