Newcastle United could end up signing Liverpool defender Joe Gomez this summer in somewhat of a transfer coup. A player, that Toon legend Alan Shearer raved about in 2018 – claiming he has “excellent distribution”.
Gomez, 24, has endured a difficult couple of seasons at Liverpool. Having established himself as first choice alongside Virgil van Dijk in 2019-20, he suffered a long-term knee injury in the early stages of 2020-21.
Since then, he has struggled to get back into the side – with Jurgen Klopp preferring to start Joel Matip, and then Ibrahima Konate as back-up. Gomez has been afforded just five starts in all competitions this campaign.
The Athletic claim that Newcastle and Villa are expected to be front runners for £75,000-a-week (Spotrac) Gomez in the summer. Shearer is a fan, raving about Gomez back in 2018 during an appearance on Match of the Day.
“This guy stood out again. Cool, calm, he’s got pace to get across the ground and cover situations so quickly,” Shearer said. “His distribution again was excellent and I thought everything about him was great today.”
Shearer on Gomez: How much do Newcastle pay for Liverpool star?
Gomez needs to leave Liverpool. Van Dijk and Matip are first choice, and Konate is excellent cover. Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams remain on the books. So, surely, Gomez needs to leave to reignite his career.
Especially, with the World Cup on the horizon. A loan move in January should really have come his way. Instead, he is going to sit on the bench – or perhaps, not even in the squad at times over the next few months.
Bought for £3.5million, Liverpool could be tempted to cash in slightly cheaper than normal given he hardly cost a lot. Perhaps, a fee of £20million might be the right amount for the England man.
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