Kolo Toure and Marc Guéhi Return to Wembley After Palace’s 1-0 Win
kolo toure hangs over Marc Guéhi’s return to Wembley, where Manchester City meet Chelsea with the defender back on the same stage where he captained Crystal Palace to FA Cup glory last season. That Palace win was 1-0 and ended with Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute goal. Guéhi now arrives with a different badge and a different kind of scrutiny.
Wembley and Palace Glory
Palace’s triumph last season was their first trophy, and Guéhi wore the captain’s armband through it. The final was settled early by Eze’s strike, and City were left watching the club they had beaten in the final lift the cup at Wembley.
Guéhi has described that stretch of his career as unpredictable. “I feel like my football life is crazy. There’s no consistency to it. It’s very unpredictable. And it’s fun, interesting. I’m glad to be given the opportunity to play in such a prestigious final again. And for this club, I know how much it means to them to win trophies,” he said of returning to the final with Manchester City.
Macclesfield to Manchester City
The road to this Wembley return ran through a far rougher day on 10 January, when Palace were eliminated 2-1 by Macclesfield, a sixth-tier side at the time. After that defeat, Guéhi went to speak to the supporters who had traveled from south London to Cheshire, saying, “I felt like I owed the fans for their voices to be heard because they’re such a big part of football. In that moment, it was low for them, but that’s just another part of life.”
Nine days later, Manchester City signed him for £20m. The move put him in a squad that has already teased him about Palace’s cup run, and he said, “I’m not going to share what they were, but yeah, there were a couple,” when asked about the jokes. He was also ineligible for City’s Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal because he had already played for Palace in the competition.
Guéhi, Chelsea and Everton
There is another edge to this return. Guéhi made two League Cup starts for Chelsea in autumn 2019 against Grimsby and Manchester United, then went on loan to Swansea in January 2020 and stayed there the following season before joining Palace for £18m in July 2021. When asked whether this final is a chance to prove Chelsea wrong, he pushed that aside.
“That’s not my mentality. I completely understand people that have that thought process but I’ve got nothing but gratitude towards Chelsea. Going there from such a young age, I am super grateful to the coaches, and the players I played with. And, to have been given the opportunity to play for the club, a couple of times,” he said. The sharper tension in his City spell came on 4 May at Hill Dickinson Stadium, when his intended backpass for Gianluigi Donnarumma reached Thierno Barry instead, Barry equalised after City had led Everton 1-0 after 68 minutes, and Everton moved 3-1 ahead during a 15-minute collapse before City salvaged a 3-3 draw.
Guéhi also said after that mistake, “It’s inevitable that someone’s going to make a mistake. So, I think having that togetherness manifesting is really important in any situation – it’s a really good trait of the group. You get to see people’s real characters and relationships when times are most difficult.” Wembley now gives him another chance to carry the same poise into a final, with City facing Chelsea and his past at Palace following him onto the pitch.
