If there’s one player in the Liverpool squad who knows all about overcoming an onerous challenge, it’s Joe Gomez.
Three times in his Anfield career, the defender has found himself facing the long road to recovery from serious injury while then having to win back his place in the first team.
He had been successful in the pursuit when returning from a cruciate ligament injury in 2015 and then a broken leg three years later.
Gomez, though, found it more difficult regaining a regular role when fighting back last summer from a patella tendon injury that sidelined him for eight months. Indeed, just four Premier League starts - none coming in his preferred centre-back role - prompted talk of a potential departure having fallen down to fourth in the pecking order. At 25, and with a World Cup on the horizon, Gomez needs consistent minutes.
READ MORE: Darwin Nunez can succeed where Fernando Torres failed after Liverpool ridicule
READ MORE: Raheem Sterling has finally paid the price for Liverpool exit
So while there was a level of surprise when it was announced earlier this month that the player had signed a new five-year contract at Anfield, he admits walking away from the task of elbowing his way back into Jurgen Klopp’s side remains far less appealing than the alternative.
“I can understand why people would have thought I’d be considering moving on, for sure, 100%,” says Gomez, speaking exclusively to the ECHO. “It’s apparent from my age now and based on my opportunities in the past, there was definitely still a decision for me to make.
“I guess you could see it at as a crossroads. But speaking to the club, I knew it was an important decision for me to make. Fundamentally, the opportunity that I have here and the platform and the chance to be at this club is one that is hard to walk away from. Essentially, it was me accepting the fact I have got to take on the challenge.”
Uncertainty over Gomez’s future last season saw him linked to clubs ranging from Real Madrid and Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa, speculation of which the centre-back was all too aware.
“I can’t dispute I heard about these rumours,” he says. “But until things are concrete with my representatives, I take it all with a pinch of salt. Any interest is flattering, but I don’t really see it like as that much of a distraction because until I make my decision, the external noise is just that – external. Once I got my head around what I wanted to do, my signing is me understanding the challenge and wanting to rise to it."
It won’t be easy. As well as long-time Liverpool team-mates Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, Gomez has seen Ibrahima Konate grow in prominence since arriving last summer, starting both the FA and Champions League finals with the England man an unused substitute.
They all want to play. But, as Gomez explains, that the quartet are such a close-knit bunch means the competition is only positive.
“The whole energy within the camp is amazing and I wouldn’t choose any other people to be in competition with, in that environment and the atmosphere we have,” he says. “It pushes us in the best way possible.
“Generally we are good friends and it gives us the platform to want the team to do well. But because it’s a friendly environment it allows us to strive and not feel any animosity. I do feel this is probably the best collective group of centre-backs around. We probably have THE best in Virg, and Joel and Ibou are unbelievable as they showed last season. We stand up well against any other team of centre-backs in the world.”
One difference between the group, however, is their age. Both Van Dijk and Matip are in there their thirties - “I’m starting to remind them of this!” laughs Gomez - while Konate is 23.
And Gomez is mindful of the fact he is still not the age Van Dijk was when arriving at Anfield and subsequently etching his name in club folklore.
“We have great role models in front of us,” he says of the Dutchman and Matip. “They are both obviously very experienced now and still at the top of their game, and have prime years ahead of them.
"It helps give context, I suppose. Virgil had gone 26 when he arrived, so me looking at what he achieved from that age on, knowing I still have the opportunity to try and have that time ahead of me, is obviously something to chase and aspire towards.
“What Virg has done is going to make him a legend at the club in world football. That’s the target. To aim high helps you achieve as much as you can. Ibou being even younger than me, it’s obvious we have time ahead of us.”
Gomez, talking at the plush Ritz-Carlton during the Singapore leg of Liverpool’s recent Far East tour, speaks with a quiet but steely sense of purpose. Despite the lack of game time last season, he intensified his efforts in the gym and has continued working on his fitness with a special programme during the summer that led Klopp to comment he considers Gomez - a minor knock suffered last week that kept him out of the friendly win over Crystal Palace notwithstanding - in the best shape of his career.
“The big thing for me was staying on top of things because the last injury caught me by surprise,” says the defender, recalling the setback he suffered while training with England in November 2020. “I always feel working hard is one of my fundamentals and before the injury I hope that’s how I was seen. But it’s made me have to step up a gear and do things that people don’t see, like at times of the night or after an away game travelling to stay on top of my body.
"I had the whole of last season to work in the gym and on the training pitch with the boys. It has surpassed the shape I’ve been in before, but in a different way. I have definitely worked harder than ever on a consistent basis
“I am very hungry to do well, and with experience I gain more knowledge and a better routine to manage the hard work with efficiency. I hope the combination of my desire to do well from a mental standpoint and the hard work I put in helps me be in good stead.”
Liverpool’s squad continues to evolve, with Sadio Mane departing and Darwin Nunez bedding in as a new focal point of the attack.
Gomez discovered first-hand the threat of the Uruguayan during the Champions League meeting with Benfica back in April, and says: “He has a turn of pace! I said to him as soon as I saw him in the physio room ‘you gave me a hard time!’.
"He is obviously a great player and like the rest of the new signings brings more youth into the team and more longevity. It’s exciting times and it is a big statement from the club to make such a big signing on top of the strength we already have.”
Gomez, of course, wasn’t the only player to sign a new contract at Anfield this summer, Mohamed Salah ended 18 months of speculation by reaffirming his Liverpool commitment.
“Mo signing his deal is another statement,” says Gomez. “Everyone knows Mo’s quality – he is already a legend at the club – and it was a long, ongoing procedure. To get it done is a special thing, not just for the fans but for the team. His application and work-rate is one thing, but what he produces on the pitch is something I’m grateful to be on the same side of.”
Remarkably, only skipper Jordan Henderson and vice-captain James Milner are longer-serving in the Liverpool squad than Gomez, with the defender acknowledging a shift in his role.
“I feel as though I’m taking on more responsibility,” he says. “I’m 25 now and I came here when I was 18. I’d like to see myself more in a position to lead through application, rather than say Hendo and Millie – Hendo is Hendo, Millie is Millie and you know how vocal they are – and that’s what I try and do. I will always be here to speak with those who have been through certain things. I’ve had a fair few experiences now at the club and it’s down to me to use that.”
Gomez adds: “I definitely believe I am the strongest version of myself, the most experienced of the time I’ve had. I feel in the best shape I can be. In terms of goals, I want to do what I can, put myself in the best position I can and for the gaffer to use me and to help the team and try to play as many games as I can.”
Given everything Gomez has had to overcome during his Liverpool career, it would be foolish to bet against him.
READ NEXT
Marcus Rashford makes 'bitter' Liverpool claim and Anfield confession to LeBron James
Harry Maguire delights Manchester United fans with Liverpool response to Premier League question
Edouard Mendy sends 'huge' warning to Liverpool and compares Erling Haaland to Reds transfer flop
Gini Wijnaldum offered to Jose Mourinho's Roma as Liverpool transfer stance clear
West Ham United table £32.5m bid for Liverpool 'transfer target' Amadou Onana
