Contract News: Joe Gomez to get a new Liverpool deal but Nat Phillips exit looks likely
According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds ‘will look to tie’ down Joe Gomez to a new contract once this season comes to a halt. The Englishman has been linked with a move away from Anfield in recent weeks.
Gomez was once Virgil van Dijk’s trusted partner in central defence. But that has changed in recent times with Joel Matip keeping fit, and young Ibrahima Konate cementing his place in our lineup- especially in the UEFA Champions League.
This has left Gomez short on playing time, who suffered an injury last season that kept him out for a while. van Dijk, too, was out for a long period of time last campaign but has come back and taken over the keys to this team’s defence once again this term.
The former Charlton Athletic defender started against Newcastle United down the right-hand side of our defence in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold as Jurgen Klopp saw it fit to rest the 23-year-old for our semi-final decider against Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
But it seems like the Reds want to keep him at Anfield for longer than just the next couple of seasons. His current deal at the club expires in the summer of 2024. This, according to the Echo, can put a question mark over Nat Phillips’ future.
What next for Gomez and Nat?
Rhys Williams impressed at Swansea City and could become Liverpool’s fifth-choice centre-back while Bournemouth, the club Phillips helped secure promotion to the Premier League recently, want to retain the Englishman beyond this summer. They paid £1.5m in initial loan fee to LFC and are set to pay an additional £250,000 due to a PL promotion clause.
He also has interest from elsewhere and the Reds will plan to hold talks about his future once his loan spell with the Cherries expires. Gomez has been an important member of this team in Liverpool’s journey to two UCL finals before this season under Klopp.
Phillips, meanwhile, is partly the reason why we are in the UCL this season, to begin with. He did a great job with Williams in our defence when next to all of our senior defenders were out injured last season.
The Englishman even had a productive outing against AC Milan in Europe earlier this season and with the talent that he possesses, perhaps he would want regular game time at a good club. If that is the case, then we cannot hold that against him.
More Liverpool News
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But then again, only time will tell what comes of his future beyond this summer. He has had a wonderful time in the Championship this season with Klopp congratulating him publicly for his achievements- even when he was high on Liverpool’s semi-final win against the Yellow Submarines.
