'Exceptional' player has just been handed one last golden chance to prove himself at Liverpool - opinion
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Plans at Liverpool might have to change drastically following events this week.
The Reds had a pretty remarkable summer in the transfer market and it appears to have paid off as they sit top of the Premier League after five games.
They spent almost £450m, something that has come under a lot of fire in recent months, although they have also made a decent amount of money through player sales.
Liverpool could have made even more as well, with so many of their stars in-demand, but they thought that keeping them around might be more beneficial in the long run.
And with what has happened this week with Giovanni Leoni tearing his ACL, keeping hold of one player now seems to have been the right decision, with this now his golden chance to prove himself again.
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The Reds only had four first-team centre-backs going into this season, and now with Leoni out for a sustained period of time, they have just three.
One of these is Joe Gomez, Liverpool’s longest-serving player after joining the Reds back in 2015, although his reliability has been questioned for a very long time.
Despite being there over 10 years, he has managed to play just under 250 games, with constant injuries significantly halting his progress.
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However, now he is needed more than ever, with his first job being to stay fit as the best ability is availability, especially when options are already limited.
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There is no denying the ‘exceptional’ talent Gomez possesses either, with the Englishman a key figure alongside Virgil van Dijk when they first won the league in 2020, showing he will not just bring experience but quality too.
He has also played well when coming on in short spells over recent seasons, meaning that as long as he stays injury-free, he can be relied upon to do a good job.
How long Leoni will be out for is not fully known just yet, although with an ACL injury, most can expect him to miss almost the entire season.
Gomez staying fit that long is highly unlikely, but if he can get to January injury-free, then he would have done an excellent job.
But when the transfer window opens, Liverpool must learn from their previous mistakes in the 2020/21 season and buy at least one player to ensure they have enough options.
Marc Guehi seems the obvious choice, with the Reds perhaps needing to move their plans forward by six months or so and pay a small fee to get him.
If not, they run the risk of their title defence derailing due to insufficient options, and relying on Gomez for a full season is a big risk to say the least.