Transfer News: Steven Gerrard faces major battle to sign Liverpool defender Joe Gomez
According to The Mirror via The Express, Liverpool defender Joe Gomez could be reluctant to join Aston Villa, who are led by Steven Gerrard. That is due to the fact that the Villans are on course to miss out on European football this season.
And that is why the Reds legend faces a ‘major battle’ to convince the 24-year-old defender to join his team this summer. Gomez joined LFC from Charlton Athletic in the same summer that Gerrard left Liverpool for a new challenge elsewhere.
Gomez has been linked with a move to Villa Park in recent times. However, the PL side currently sits in 15th position and is closer to the relegation zone than the top 7.
Gomez isn’t just a bench-warmer at Liverpool. He was a big part of our UEFA Champions League-winning campaign alongside Virgil van Dijk in defence. However, things have been different this season.
The Englishman’s injury issues have seen Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate overtake him in the pecking order. With both of them performing well, and the Frenchman in particular still having a lot of years ahead of him at the senior level, Gomez’s status as a first-team regular is under threat.
In such a circumstance, there exists the option to try and resurrect one’s career elsewhere. But that team may not be Aston Villa due to the fact that they cannot offer him European football as of now. Given his history with the UCL, he would surely want to play amongst the best teams and players in the world.
Do LFC need Gomez?
Yes, they do. Last season was a very explicit reminder that defensive depth is important in order to compete on all fronts. Having had to field the likes of Nat Phillips, Rhys Williams, and even Jordan Henderson at centre-back, Klopp would understand the importance of having at least four quality centre-backs.
Gomez, of course, may want more minutes, especially in order to impress Gareth Southgate. But with the Reds competing for trophies on all fronts this season, and their intent to do the same in the next campaign, offers enough chances for Gomez to prove that he deserves to be a starter here.
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Konate was arguably a signing we needed in the same window when Dejan Lovren left but now that he is here, the German manager would be smart to preserve this group of players and build on it. Gomez can also play as a right-back which offers another reason why we should keep a hold of him.
