Potential blow for Liverpool as source claims 'sensational' player could leave this week

Aston Villa are still hopeful of signing Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez in the January transfer window, according to a fresh transfer report.

The 24-year-old has had a nightmare in the injury department in recent years, picking up a number of long-term issues that have stunted his progress, from knee and ankle surgeries to a fractured patella.

Gomez has been limited to just 15 minutes of Premier League action across four short cameos this season, with Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate all preferred to him in Jurgen Klopp’s pecking order.

Villa have been linked with a move for the centre-back in the past and their interest doesn’t seem to have gone away.

According to Football Insider, a Villa source has informed them that Steven Gerrard’s side will make another bid for Gomez at some point this week.

Gerrard himself is thought to be a ‘huge admirer’ of the defender, who joined Liverpool in the same summer that he left the club, back in 2015.

While Gomez’s lack of playing time this season suggests he is unwanted, it would be a huge surprise if Klopp lets him go.

At 24, the England international still has many years ahead of him and it could just be that club are managing him carefully after so many injuries.

With Van Dijk and Matip both turning 31 this year, there is no reason why he won’t eventually find himself back in the team as a regular, and it was shown last year just how thin the centre-back ranks can look in the event of a couple of injuries.

Gomez has been hailed as a ‘sensational’ player by Klopp and the idea of him moving on at this stage in his career is unthinkable given his potential, having been such a key man during the Premier League-winning 2019/20 campaign, making 28 appearances in the