Scottish Premiership giants Celtic reportedly wanted to sign Joe Gomez on loan from Premier League giants Liverpool in the summer of 2017
Looking back, Liverpool definitely made the right call rebuffing Celtic’s Joe Gomez advances in the summer of 2017.
At the time, the versatile defender was returning to action following a serious cruciate ligament injury that had kept him on the sidelines for over a year. And a loan move north of the border made sense, particularly as Gomez would be reuniting with Brendan Rodgers, the man who signed him for Liverpool, and therefore guaranteed a run of games in the starting XI.
But despite Celtic’s interest, as reported by The Sun, Liverpool decided to keep hold of the former Charlton Athletic youngster.
And, looking back one year on, that decision looks to be a very good one. Because Gomez emerged as a regular in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI almost as soon as the 2017/18 season began.
He made 21 Premier League starts, sharing duties with Trent Alexander-Arnold and even being rewarded with an England debut against Brazil. Flash forward 12 months and Gomez’ rise just keeps on going.
He has started all of Liverpool’s league games this season in the absence of Dejan Lovren and thrived at centre-back, particularly in the 2-1 win at Leicester which earned him plenty of praise from fans and pundits alike.
Suddenly, a Gomez, Virgil van Dijk partnership looks like the future of Liverpool’s defence while he has returned to the England squad after missing the World Cup through injury.
Being denied a loan move to Celtic one year ago now feels like one of those sliding door moments.
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