Joe Gomez can still have Liverpool future, insists Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has offered Joe Gomez a lifeline regarding his future at the club after admitting he expects all his current squad to remain with him this season.

Speculation about the versatile defender began in June when he was linked with Newcastle and that intensified when he was left out of Slot's first matchday squad for last weekend’s win at Ipswich.

Liverpool have no intention of trying to push out their current longest-serving player, particularly as they would have to buy a last-minute replacement to ensure their squad is not left short.

However, they have allowed him to explore his options in terms of being able to gain more playing time elsewhere, even if last season only Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold managed more minutes than him among the defenders, although much of that time was spent filling in at left-back.

Asked where Gomez’s head was after being left out last week, Slot said: "It has been in the right place for three weeks. He has worked really hard since he came back.

"He didn’t play a lot in the Euros and when he came back in the first sessions he couldn’t train the whole session so we had to manage his load and that was also a bit a reason why he wasn’t in the team on Saturday.

"But this week he had a good week in terms of load and how much he could do with the team.

"He is one of the players that I see new things from and learn things what I see from him, also combined with other players. It has been a good week for him and us until now.

"At this moment I am expecting everyone to be here. (But) everything can change."

Gomez appears currently to be fourth-choice centre-back but Slot is not prepared to guarantee anyone the place alongside captain Virgil van Dijk, with his fellow