Jurgen Klopp, who has made it plain that he no longer believes in Joe Gomez and wants to sign an improvement, is pushing for Liverpool’s board to make a move in 2024 for a new, high-profile defender. This move is being pushed by the Liverpool board.
In the summer of 2015, the defender, who was then 26 years old and had previously played for Charlton, made the move to Liverpool after the Merseyside club offered him an unprecedented £3.5 million for his services. Gomez, who is presently in his sixth season at Anfield, has played in 182 games for the Reds but, shockingly, has never scored a goal for the club.
Gomez is a versatile player who shines in the middle of the defence, but when necessary, he can also play right back. Naturally, Gomez performs best in the middle of the defence.
His best years on Merseyside were probably between 2019 and 2020, when he and Virgil van Dijk’s friendship helped Liverpool win the Champions League the year before and end a 30-year wait to become English champions. During this time, Liverpool won both the English championship and the Champions League.
Because of a serious knee injury he sustained while playing for England, Gomez was forced to sit out 39 games for his club Liverpool and was out of action for a total of 231 days. After his return, he was never quite able to live up to the same expectations, and ever since then, he has had difficulty maintaining consistency.
In point of fact, Gomez has been switched to right back on occasion in order to cover Trent Alexander-Arnold; yet, he frequently seems vulnerable when he is playing in that position. In addition, Gomez has learned that Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate are preferred to him as Van Dijk’s partner. This realisation has made him appear to be unduly eager to contribute whenever he is given the opportunity to start in the central midfield position, which is quite uncommon.
It consequently comes as a great surprise to learn that, despite having spent the entirety of eight seasons playing for Liverpool, Gomez has entirely fallen out of favour with Klopp.
Klopp has lost confidence in Joe Gomez as a player.
And despite the fact that Klopp most likely does not consider Gomez to be his first choice anymore, it is likely that he will continue to play for Liverpool even if Matip is most likely going to leave the club as a free agent.
On a recent episode of the Talking Transfers podcast, journalist Toby Cudworth made this assertion, speculating that Liverpool may acquire a player of higher quality in the coming weeks.
“In my opinion, Liverpool is in desperate need of a centre back at this point in time. The individual claimed that even if Van Dijk is not performing at his peak level, he is still their best option.
“Konate has struggled with wounds quite a bit. When it comes to maintaining a consistent level of performance, Matip is inconsistent.
In addition to that, Joe Gomez is a reserve player who fills in at right back on occasion, but I don’t think Jurgen Klopp has much faith in him.
“Unfortunately, I don’t believe he possesses the skills that Liverpool needs in order to stay in the running for the title.”
In assessing Liverpool’s possibilities to win the championship, Cudworth stated, “Liverpool thinks they can be in the mix for the title.”
As a result, I believe it is likely that they will make an effort to acquire a central defender, a defensive midfielder, and potentially another player in the month of January.
Goncalo Inacio has been brought up as a possible transfer target for Liverpool.
Goncalo Inacio, a defender for Sporting Lisbon who is 22 years old and has made 132 appearances for his team, the majority of which have been in European competition, is supposedly a target for Liverpool.
Inacio, a mainstay in the middle of Portugal’s defensive line, has been regularly likened to Ruben Dias, a fellow Portuguese defender who currently plays for Manchester City.
In addition, because his release clause is set at €45 million (£39 million), Liverpool is in a position to pay his fee without any difficulty.
It has been stated that Liverpool strengthened their interest in Inacio by watching him play in Portugal’s 5-0 triumph over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday night. Liverpool watched him in action throughout the match.
As a result of the fact that Inacio is one of the rarer breeds of left-footed centre halves, which is another advantage for Klopp, it is possible that Van Dijk will be able to play on the right side of the defence. The experienced Dutchman typically plays on the left side of the center-half positions for Liverpool, and his agility helps him to frequently escape issues. But now that Van Dijk is getting closer to the end of his career, there is a growing consensus that he would be better off taking a baby step to the right. This opinion has gained traction in recent years.
