One Liverpool stalwart has opened up about how close he came to leaving Anfield during the summer transfer window.
As per The Athletic, the Reds had been honing in on a £75m deal for Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon in June, with Joe Gomez set to make the reverse move for £45m, and arrangements for medicals had even been discussed for those two transfers.
However, when the Magpies eased their PSR concerns by selling Elliott Anderson and Yankuba Minteh for a combined £65m, they pulled the plug on the England winger’s departure, with the LFC defender’s planned switch to St James’ Park also falling by the wayside.
Gomez was on the brink of leaving Liverpool
As per The Athletic, Gomez – Liverpool’s longest-serving current player, having joined in 2015 – admitted that the move to Newcastle was close to fruition, but he certainly has no regrets as to how his fate played out.
The 27-year-old said of his near-exit from Anfield: “Yeah, it was definitely for real, but my focus was always on the club. I know how blessed I am to be here. It will be 10 years next summer. I don’t take that for granted.
“It is the best club in the world in my eyes and [after the transfer didn’t happen] it was quickly a case of adapting and getting right back into the swing of things. It was quickly put to bed. That’s football.”
He added: “I believe things happen for a reason. It is a pleasure to be part of such a great group and we obviously have such a good foundation to hopefully achieve something this year. That is what you want to be part of. I love being here. I love the club.”
Liverpool must be relieved that Gomez stayed
Having only started more than 20 Premier League games in two of his nine seasons at Liverpool, a record heavily influenced by two long-term injuries, it wouldn’t have seemed wholly surprising if Gomez had moved on from Merseyside in the summer.
He began the season fourth in the centre-back pecking order behind Virgil van Dijk, Jarell Quansah and Ibrahima Konate, but with the English youngster losing his place in the starting XI and the Frenchman now out injured, the 27-year-old has started the Reds’ last three matches.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, but we can breathe a sigh of relief that the two proposed transfers didn’t materialise. Given how the season has played out so far, Arne Slot would’ve had a far greater need for our number 2 than for Gordon, with Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo both providing effective left-wing options.
Gomez – the sole survivor from the squad that Brendan Rodgers bequeathed to Jurgen Klopp nine years ago – mightn’t be a nailed-on starter for the Reds, but the manner in which he’s stepped up recently shows his continued importance at Anfield.
We don’t know how much longer he’ll stay in L4, but whenever he eventually goes, he can look back with pride on a decade which has seen him contribute towards several major trophies being won, including the Premier League and Champions League. Now he just needs that elusive goal!