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It's a question Joe Gomez would be forgiven for asking as he faces another summer having his Liverpool career called into question.

An almost annual pursuit now is the debate over whether Gomez will leave Anfield for a fresh challenge.

He came close last year when part of a deal that would have seen Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon move in the opposite direction, while in windows previous clubs as elevated as European Super League advocates Real Madrid have been linked.

And as Gomez now celebrates exactly a decade since arriving at Liverpool, the centre-back once again finds himself standing at the crossroads.

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It says much about his all-too-regular injury issues - a hamstring problem forced him to miss most of the second half of last season - that in 10 years Gomez is still nine short of reaching the landmark of 250 appearances.

For context, the recently-departed Trent Alexander-Arnold made 354 in one year fewer, Andy Robertson has managed 342 in eight years and Virgil van Dijk is on 319 despite arriving two-and-a-half years after Gomez and missing almost an entire season with cruciate ligament damage.

There is no doubting Gomez's talent, and for good reason did the Reds commit £6million to Charlton Athletic for his signature when a teenager.

"I played at Liverpool alongside Joe Gomez, with whom I also formed a great partnership at the back."

That partnership was at its most prosperous when the Premier League title was won in 2020.

But the reality is, in the subsequent five years, Gomez has partnered Van Dijk on just 24 occasions, with Joel Matip, Konate and, for a brief period, Jarell Quansah edging ahead of him in the pecking order.

Matip retired last year but the other four centre-backs remain at Liverpool.

But with Konate having not signed a new deal and approaching the final 12 months of his contract, and Bayer Leverkusen chasing Quansah, there is a degree of uncertainty in the position at present despite Van Dijk extending his Anfield commitment by two years in April.

In Gomez's favour is both his versatility - as well as centre-back, he has operated at left-back, right-back and defensive midfield in recent seasons - and the fact he is a homegrown player at a time when Liverpool are becoming mindful of having a senior squad too reliant on overseas talent.

But Gomez made only 11 starts last season, with a further six outings from the bench.

Having been a non-playing member of England's European Championships squad in their run to the final last summer, he hasn't been given an international call-up since.

With a multitude of clubs reportedly jockeying to make a move for Gomez, it's not as though he won't have a shortage of potential suitors to tempt him towards pastures new.

Gomez is the only Liverpool player to have featured under Brendan Rodgers, the entire Jurgen Klopp reign and now Arne Slot.
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