Liverpool: The 10 best LFC transfers of the 2010s
By David Gate
8. Joe Gomez
Joe Dave Gomez had just had his 18th birthday when Brendan Rodgers made him a Liverpool player. The Reds paid just £3.5 million for the promising defender. He would make just 5 appearances for Rodgers before two things happened that would dramatically change his fortunes.
Firstly, Rodgers was sacked and Jurgen Klopp was installed. The German was the perfect boss to develop his talent, tactical awareness. However, that would not happen for almost 18 months. Gomez suffered an ACL injury while on England Under-21 duty in October 2015 and would not make his first appearance for Klopp until January 2017.
When Nathaniel Clyne was injured in the 2017/18 pre-season Gomez became the first choice right back with Trent Alexander-Arnold given time to develop but playing second fiddle.
Another injury prevented him from playing a part in the Champions League final run-in of that season and by the time the 2018/19 pre-season came around, Trent was firmly the first choice right back.
Instead, Klopp gave Gomez a shot at center back – his natural position. He thrived next to Virgil van Dijk and was part of the Reds’ record breaking defense as they kept clean sheet after clean sheet.
The injury curse struck again and he lost his place to Joel Matip for the Champions League winning run last season but he came off the bench in the final.
He has become a first choice England player and one of the best young defender in Europe – he is still only 22-years-old and has a decade more of his peak at the position. Only injuries stop him from being higher on this list.
[Profile by David Gate]