Negotiations were so advanced over the proposed transfer of Liverpool defender Joe Gomez to Newcastle United in late June that payment terms were discussed.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes had agreed to sell Gomez for £45 million ($57.6m) based on winger Anthony Gordon heading in the opposite direction for £75million — two separate deals but each dependent on the other.
Newcastle CEO Darren Eales wanted the bulk of the fee for Gordon up front as Newcastle sought to raise funds before the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) reporting deadline.
Tentative enquiries were also made with the England camp about holding medicals for Gomez and Gordon during the European Championship in Germany.
England colleagues Anthony Gordon (left) and Joe Gomez could have swapped clubs (Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Newcastle had initially wanted to sign Jarell Quansah but were informed that the 21-year-old academy graduate, who made 33 appearances during a breakthrough season in 2023-24, wasn’t available at any price.
However, when Newcastle turned their attention to Gomez, Liverpool were willing to negotiate. The club’s longest-serving player also made it clear during discussions that he was open to joining Eddie Howe’s squad. Newcastle were offering him regular game time in his preferred role as a right-sided centre-back.
At the eleventh hour, the deals were shelved. Newcastle backed out of letting Gordon leave when the £35m sale of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest and Yankuba Minteh’s £30m move to Brighton & Hove Albion gave them the £60m they needed before the PSR deadline on June 30 without offloading one of their biggest assets.
GO DEEPER
How PSR deadline impacted June deals: £323m of sales, question marks and young players on move
A month on, little has changed but the landscape could soon shift, with Gordon and Gomez returning to club duties next week following an extended break after their England commitments at the Euros.
Liverpool remain big admirers of Gordon, who had his head turned by the interest of the club he grew up supporting. However, Liverpool also appreciate that Newcastle, who intend to offer Gordon a new deal on improved terms, are no longer under the same financial pressures.
As for Gomez, he will consider his options having come so close to leaving the club he joined from Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2015.
Get the latest transfer news on The Athletic…
Liverpool aren’t looking to push him out the door. It was all about circumstance in late June when Newcastle needed a trade and came up with Gomez as an option.
Gomez, who is under contract until 2027, is still regarded as one of Arne Slot’s four senior centre-backs and his versatility was underlined last season as he deputised expertly in both full-back positions when Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were injured.
He is a valuable senior player but Liverpool were willing to sell him for £45m and the 27-year-old was open to a new challenge, so it will be intriguing to see if other suitors come calling.
Gomez made 51 appearances, with 31 starts, for Liverpool in 2023-24 — more than in any other season of his Anfield career — but he started just two Premier League games in his favoured centre-back role, and that was a source of frustration.
Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate and Quansah were all selected ahead of him to partner captain Virgil van Dijk. Matip has since moved on but Quansah looks likely to retain the starting berth he claimed in the second half of last season.
Konate lost his way during the latter stages of Jurgen Klopp’s reign but there’s a confidence internally that Slot can get the Frenchman back to his commanding best after a difficult period.
Nathaniel Phillips is expected to move on after Liverpool’s tour of the United States but fellow centre-back Sepp van den Berg has been giving Slot plenty of food for thought with his performances in pre-season.
The Dutch defender improved significantly during his season-long loan at Mainz in Germany. Van den Berg has shown why Liverpool have turned down offers from Mainz, Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven. He may have scoffed at Liverpool’s £20m valuation of him but that figure did not look unrealistic when he shone against Arsenal in Philadelphia.
Gomez rarely partnered Virgil van Dijk (centre) in central defence last season (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Gomez has plenty to ponder as he prepares to link up with the squad at Kirkby early next week.
From the glorious highs of Champions League and Premier League glory to the crushing lows of rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and tearing his patella tendon, Gomez has been through so much during his Liverpool career. He’s the only player still there from the Brendan Rodgers era.
He is a popular figure in the dressing room and is popular with supporters for the resilience he has shown, as well as his classy, composed defensive displays. He was brilliant in the title-winning season of 2019-20.
Gomez was strongly linked with a move elsewhere two years ago when Aston Villa and Newcastle were among the clubs interested, but Klopp urged him to stay put and Gomez agreed, penning a new five-year contract.
He wasn’t ready to throw in the towel at Anfield after dropping down the pecking order. “Essentially, it was me accepting the fact I have to take on the challenge,” he explained.
Gomez’s future is uncertain once again. Having spent Euro 2024 watching on from the bench, he won’t want to face a similar fate this season as a backup for Slot too.
(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
