Joe Gomez will have made Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff extremely happy after agreeing a contract extension to keep him at Anfield until the summer of 2027; a decision that all but secures the future of the heart of Liverpool’s backline.
It’s not a decision that all can understand, however, with Danny Murphy questioning the Englishman’s thought process after enduring a limited selection of minutes last term.
“The evidence last season was that Matip and Konate are ahead of him,” the former Red told talkSPORT (via the Daily Express). “He’s obviously had a conversation with Jurgen Klopp who has reassured him and he’s going to get games.”
Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk were the centre-back pairing of choice for the German tactician across much of the 2021/22 campaign with Ibrahima Konate also earning a great deal of minutes domestically and abroad.
“But as it stands, the evidence of last season, he’s fourth-choice centre-half,” Murphy added.
Whilst there is some sense in the argument on a personal level, the willingness on Klopp’s part to sanction the extended stay of the 25-year-old suggests a certain degree of confidence in the former Charlton Athletic man breaking into the first-XI on a more regular basis.
With both Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip in their 30s, there will come a point in the relatively near (though by no means imminent) future where the torch is handed over.
Perhaps that’s a gamble on Gomez’s part but it certainly shouldn’t worry fans that the England international has backed himself to stick around for the long haul.
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