James Pearce details just how close Joe Gomez came to leaving Liverpool already this summer
It emerged this week that Liverpool had agreed to sell Joe Gomez to Newcastle in June, with Anthony Gordon due to come the other way, before both transfers eventually collapsed once the Magpies had eased their PSR concerns.
The Athletic‘s James Pearce has now detailed just how close the double deal was to being executed at one point, with negotiations over the defender’s proposed move to St James’ Park being so advanced that payment terms were being discussed.
During the talks, the 27-year-old had indicated that he was open to a move to Tyneside, where Eddie Howe was prepared to offer him regular game-time in his preferred right centre-back position.
The report also claims that ‘tentative enquiries’ were made with the England camp at Euro 2024 about organising medicals for both Gomez and Gordon, although The Independent‘s Miguel Delaney clarified that these were never actually booked.
The saga showed that Liverpool were willing to sacrifice Gomez if it meant getting Gordon through the door, and that the player himself was open to leaving Anfield after nine years.
Both of those could still ring true, although it’s understood that the Reds won’t seek to push the 27-year-old towards an exit – and so they shouldn’t.
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Granted, he mightn’t be a regular starter – just under half of his 32 Premier League games last season came as a substitute – and competition for centre-back places is even stronger now that Jarell Quansah and Sepp van den Berg are excelling.
However, Gomez’s true value to Liverpool was shown in his successful deployment in both full-back positions in 2023/24, proving vital to the team in their hour of need as injuries decimated the squad.
The England international understandably won’t want to be consigned to the bench for most of the upcoming season and viewed as a mere utility player, so it could take some sweet-talking from the likes of Arne Slot to fully convince him to stay.
It could be a pivotal month for the 27-year-old’s career as he mulls over what to do next.
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