Joe Gomez was an unlikely candidate for sale heading into this first summer of Liverpool’s new era, but now there are worrying question marks over his future.
As the likes of Everton, Aston Villa and Chelsea frantically traded players for inflated fees to avoid sanctions before the Premier League‘s PSR deadline, it was a marker of Liverpool’s self-sustaining model that they were not involved.
Only, when it emerged that Newcastle could be forced to sell one of their leading talents before June 30, they did enter the fray.
As the Magpies desperately pushed for deals to balance the books and navigate a potential points deduction, the trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon were made available.
It was Gordon who piqued Liverpool’s interest, and though Newcastle eventually solved their issues by selling Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh instead, it has since come to light that a deal had been agreed.
That is widely reported to have included Gordon heading to Anfield for £75 million and – after a failed enquiry over Jarell Quansah – Gomez going to other way for £45 million.
Effectively, the Reds would sign Gordon for £30 million plus Gomez; a deal Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes would have been proud of.
The breakdown of that deal has caused an issue for Liverpool, however, with their No. 2 now reportedly considering his future having been openly touted for sale by his current club and offered a prominent role under Eddie Howe.
It is not exactly a good look, and Gomez could be forgiven for feeling undervalued – even if it has been maintained that the Reds would be happy for him to stay.
Whether a new buyer will emerge – particularly at the £45 million price tag – remains to be seen, but with the transfer window closing in less than four weeks, it promises to be a worrying subplot as Liverpool get down to business.
Liverpool’s utility man
Gomez, it has been claimed, had been offered a regular starting role in his favoured role of centre-back at St James’ Park, which is unlikely to be on offer at Anfield.
Quansah and Ibrahima Konate are ahead of him in the pecking order as partners to Virgil van Dijk, which explains why Liverpool were open to a sale.
In Sepp van den Berg there is a readymade replacement, too, with the 22-year-old Dutchman impressing throughout pre-season after loan spells with Preston, Schalke and Mainz.
Selling Gomez for £45 million and integrating a player already signed for a 10th of that certainly makes sound business sense.
But his value to Liverpool extends beyond pitching in as a backup centre-back, with the England international proving increasingly key due to his versatility.
Gomez heads into his first pre-season with Arne Slot on the back of his most prolific campaign yet in terms of appearances, featuring 51 times for Liverpool in 2023/24.
However, only five of those games came at centre-back, with 25 at right-back, 19 at left-back and even two as a defensive midfielder.
The majority of his minutes were at left-back, with 1,429, and such was the level of his performance in that unnatural role that he kept Kostas Tsimikas on the bench.
If Liverpool were to sell Gomez, then, they would be losing an outstanding option at centre-back, right-back and now left-back, which makes the situation muddier as the transfer deadline approaches.
The left-back situation
It cannot be forgotten that he was only called upon for the role of stand-in left-back due to injury Andy Robertson and then Tsimikas.
And while Gomez himself has been absent for the entirety of Slot’s first pre-season so far due to his involvement with England at the Euros, Robertson has been unable to feature in friendlies against Real Betis, Arsenal and Man United due to another injury.
“He is not fully fit yet,” Slot told reporters before the clash with Betis in Pittsburgh.
“But we are expecting him in the end of the tour – maybe just after the tour – to be fully fit again.
“He took a small injury into the Euros and afterwards he had to recover from that after playing those games. But we will expect him back after our tour – but he joined us already.”
Robertson captained Scotland in their frustrating campaign at the Euros, but revealed even before their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany to kick off Group A that he had been carrying an ankle problem since March.
Four months later and, despite playing on, the 30-year-old has been forced to sit out of much of Liverpool’s preparations for a first campaign under their new head coach.
There was no cause to rebuke Robertson, of course, and it was his prerogative to represent Scotland at another major tournament despite any risk to his own fitness.
But it serves to highlight that a player renowned for his consistency on the left flank is becoming increasingly susceptible to injury.
Add into that the growing interest in Owen Beck, who is expected to leave this summer with QPR and Celtic among his suitors, and a deal already tied up with Wigan to send Luke Chambers out on loan, and the situation seems stark.
An unnecessary gamble?
Tsimikas has been Slot’s de facto first choice at left-back throughout pre-season, but there are understandable question marks over his ability at elite level.
Now, Gomez should not be considered a candidate to become Liverpool’s starting left-back, but allowing his head to turn could necessitate a new addition on that side of the defence.
The ideal scenario would be to bring in a left-sided centre-back also capable of filling in out wide – Riccardo Calafiori, subject of an enquiry from Anfield before joining Arsenal, would have been a prime candidate.
Piero Hincapie of Bayer Leverkusen and David Hancko of Slot’s former side Feyenoord are other obvious choices, though the latter has already seemingly ruled out a move to England.
Whoever the target may be, the point stands that selling Gomez without identifying a replacement of similar versatility would be a gamble for Liverpool.
And while it may have been worth the risk in pushing for a signing like Gordon, perhaps offering their longest-serving player out so freely may come back to bite them come August 30.
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