Joe Gomez never asked to leave Liverpool - he wants to stay

Joe Gomez never requested a transfer away from Liverpool despite no longer being a first-choice starter at centre-back but he remains a crucial player in Jurgen Klopp's eyes.

The English centre-back has been at the club since 2014 and the start of next season will mark a decade he has been at Anfield - the current longest serving player at Liverpool.

Somehow, he has never scored a goal for Liverpool (or at all in his career) but something tells me he will break his duck before the end of the season...

Klopp won't care though.

His performances at centre-back and full-back this season have been very impressive with the only really poor cameo away to Brighton when he came on for Trent Alexander-Arnold but battled to match the tempo.

Now that he's covering for Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas at left-back, Gomez is offering quality and consistency.

What has Jurgen Klopp said about Joe Gomez?

Klopp has waxed lyrical about the 26-year-old and revealed that despite falling out of favour due to form and injuries, Gomez never indicated that he wanted to leave the club.

"He can play all the positions at the back and that is very important," Klopp began.

"He didn't have a good year last year but he is absolutely back to his best. Or maybe he is at his best at the moment, because he is still a young man. It is crazy to think that - he is just for us a super important player."

Klopp continued: "I think Joe is absolutely at home here so that is the no.1 reason (he is still here).

"Joe had the problem of too many injuries in his time here - I'm not sure exactly the number but he's been here for nine plus years if I am right - and the number of games he has had with the quality he has has nothing to do with me or Brendan (Rodgers) - he was playing quite frequently when I arrived.

"Then he was injured and he came back from international duty with the under-19s or under-21s injured. But in our most successful seasons he played centre-half next to Virgil van Dijk, very often, not all the time, but mixed probably with Joel and Dejan (Lovren) but he played a lot of games."

Klopp added: "He never came to my office and asked: 'Can I go?' No, never. It was always sorted before it could get to that point. We sorted a new contract, he wanted to sign and he wanted to stay. I think he and his wife really feel he is Liverpool through and through and so that is the reason more than anything else.

"He knows that in his time with his injuries that if you go somewhere and get injured you are just a different player but here he is still our boy and we will deal with it and you have all time to get back and that is a positive as well."

I think I speak for all Liverpool fans when I say that Gomez is a fantastic player and seems to be a great guy too.

Injuries may have sapped some of his pace and prevented him from really kicking on at Liverpool but he's still just 26.

If he can leave regular injuries behind him, there's no reason why he can't reach his full potential.