Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp has hands-off warning for Steven Gerrard over Aston Villa target

Klopp details Gerrard chat after Liverpool beat Aston Villa

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Jurgen Klopp has declared that Joe Gomez will not be leaving Liverpool to join Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa in the January transfer window. The 24-year-old has been linked with a move elsewhere in recent weeks after spending the majority of the season to date kicking around on the substitutes’ bench.

Gomez, who missed a large chunk of last season with a serious knee injury, has registered just two Premier League for Liverpool since the beginning of the campaign.

He has struggled to force his way back into Klopp’s plans due to the excellent form of Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip and the recent addition of Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig.

It has recently been suggested that Gomez could be shipped out on a temporary basis next month in order to find his feet elsewhere ahead of next season.

A loan move could give him the opportunity to stake a renewed claim for a place in the England side in time for next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The former Charlton Athletic defender has been strongly linked with Villa, with new boss Gerrard having been tipped to raid Liverpool for a number of their fringe players at the turn of the year.

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However, Klopp has poured cold water on the possibility of Gomez leaving Anfield in the near future, insisting that he remains part of the first-team picture in spite of his lack of action this season.

“It was obviously not the best year for him, but that’s how it goes,” the Liverpool boss told a press conference on Wednesday.

“We are patient, and Joe is patient. I have no plans to give anybody on loan in the winter.”

Gomez has racked up a total of 129 appearances for Liverpool since joining the club in 2015 and was a member of their Champions League and Premier League-winning squads in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Klopp was adamant that Gomez would have a big role to play when quizzed on his future back in October, stressing that his quality in central defence never goes unnoticed.

“Joe didn’t play much yet, but that’s how it is,” the German coach explained.

“After the long injury we decided to start with Joel, which made absolute sense. Now Ibou [Konate] came in. We have to deal with Joey.

“At the beginning still we are dealing intensity and stuff like this. All five of the boys get on really well with each other, which is really nice to see.

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“They respect each other a lot. We will need them, and we will need Joe, and Joe’s quality is incredible, we all know that.”

“We are not even halfway through the season and people are already talking about these kind of things. Hopefully nobody gets injured through the year.”

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Gomez will make his third Premier League appearance of the campaign against Newcastle United on Thursday evening.

Liverpool will be looking to snatch all three points from Eddie Howe’s side at Anfield in order to stay within a point of league leaders Manchester City at the business end of the table.

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