Joe Gomez expresses joy on extending his stay with Liverpool after being on the verge of an exit in the summer.
Joe Gomez says he is “blessed” to be at Liverpool after a summer in which the prospect of leaving was real.
The England defender, who started his first Champions League game of the season against Girona on Tuesday, acknowledges that it has been tough to miss out, but he is excited about the opportunity to participate following Ibrahima Konaté’s injury. He declared, “I love the club, I love being here.”
With Anthony Gordon heading in the opposite direction, a deal for Gomez to join Newcastle had been in place for £75 million. However, Newcastle was able to reach PSR targets because to the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to Forest and Brighton, respectively. Gomez is now the player with the longest tenure at Anfield, however he is behind Konaté and Virgil van Dijk. It wasn’t until this month’s victory over Manchester City that he started a Premier League match.
Asked if he was happy with the way things worked out, Gomez replied: “Yes. It is a pleasure to be part of such a great group and we obviously have such a good foundation to hopefully achieve something this year and that is what you want to be part of. I love being here.
“[Leaving] was definitely for real. My focus was always on the club. I know how blessed I am to be here and it will be 10 years in the summer. I don’t take that for granted. It is the best club in the world in my eyes and it was quickly a case of adapting and getting into the swing of things. It was good to put it to bed. It’s football. To be somewhere 10 years and not have any blips would not be natural.”
Prior to the City match, Gomez had played one, nine, and forty-five minutes in three different league games as a substitute, including one at full-back. He had only started two Carabao Cup matches. Prior to the 1-0 victory at Girona, he had appeared off the bench against Real Madrid, Milan, and RB Leipzig in Europe.
“It is tricky because you don’t know when the chance will come or under what circumstances, what position and so on and so forth,” Gomez said. “But I can only control what I can focus on, and that is being the best professional I can be.”