Arne Slot has remained coy on Liverpool’s centre-back plans as he offered an update on Joe Gomez‘s injury status after he left the pre-season tour early.
Liverpool were left with only one senior specialist at centre-back in the double-header against Athletic Club, after Virgil van Dijk missed out due to illness and with Gomez still sidelined.
It left Wataru Endo, Andy Robertson and Trey Nyoni to take on the role, while Ryan Gravenberch was also drafted in during the trip to Asia, seeing calls for reinforcements grow.
With the new season only one week away, Slot was asked in his pre-Community Shield press conference if he feels a new centre-back needs to arrive.
He said: “What you just said, they (Endo, Robertson and Gravenberch) can definitely play there as well. And you forgot to mention Joe Gomez.
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“Unfortunately, he has a minor injury at the moment, but he will be back with the team very soon.
“So, we still have numerous options that can play there. But as always, what I always say, it’s the same boring answer as with players that we might bring in or not.
“I’m really happy with the players we already have, and we have numerous players that can play in that position.”
Liverpool certainly have alternative options who can play at centre-back, but for a team seeking to compete across all competitions it is far from an ideal scenario.
Gomez is currently nursing an Achilles injury he sustained during the club’s time in Hong Kong, the latest in a series of unfortunate fitness setbacks for the 28-year-old.
While Slot says Gomez’s return is imminent, that still only leaves the club with three senior specialists in the position after Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen.
Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi is a known target, and the Times‘ Paul Joyce reports that they “may follow up their interest depending on the asking price,” which is currently around the £50 million mark.
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