Joe Gomez has admitted it was an easy decision to extend his contract at Liverpool after committing his future to the club until the summer of 2027.
The England international has made 142 appearances for the Reds since joining from Charlton Athletic in a £3.5m deal in 2015, winning all six major honours under Jurgen Klopp along the way, but would have featured a lot more had it not been for serious injury. Having seen his 2020/21 campaign ended by a knee injury suffered on international duty in November 2020, he found himself behind new signing Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip in the pecking order as Virgil van Dijk ’s defensive partner following his return last season.
Limited to just four Premier League starts as a result, the 25-year-old found game-time hard to come by as Liverpool competed for an unprecedented quadruple. However, with his previous deal expiring in 2024, the Reds had no desire to lose Gomez despite frequent speculation linking him with an Anfield exit, and had long planned to hold contract talks this pre-season.
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Gomez has revealed that as soon as it became clear that Liverpool wanted to keep him, he had no desire to leave the club as he vowed to prove that his best years are still ahead of him.
“It's obviously a special moment for me and my family. Another one that you dream of as a kid and one I don't take for granted,” he said. “It is an unbelievable place to be; in my eyes, probably one of the best - if not the best - clubs in the world at the minute.
"The opportunity to extend my stay here was an easy decision to make, really. Obviously, I have been here quite a while now, but in the grand scheme of things I still feel young and, like you say, the best years are ahead of me.
“I have got more to learn and the time to do that. I think I have the platform here to do it with the manager and the coaching staff around me and my team-mates, to make sure the best years are ahead.”
Making 21 appearances in all competitions last season, Gomez was an unused substitute for their FA Cup final victory over Chelsea and Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid. And having seen Liverpool win both domestic cups but fall short of an undefeated quadruple, the defender sees no reason why the Reds can’t enjoy an even more successful season in 2022/23.
“I think as a group, the sky is the limit. We want to go one, if not two, better than last season and aim for it all,” he told the club . “We definitely have the ability to do that and the belief is there.
“It's just about us taking it one game at a time, like we did last season, and just being true to ourselves, playing the way we play under the gaffer's guidance. Who is to say we can't go on to do more than we did last season?”
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