Steven Gerrard faces a major battle to convince Liverpool defender Joe Gomez to leave the Reds for Aston Villa this summer.
Anfield legend Gerrard wants to buy the 24-year-old defender, who will have two years left on his contract this summer. Gomez, who has 11 England caps, would like to play more after just three Premier League starts this term for Liverpool.
But he is part of Liverpool’s quadruple bid and is understood to be unlikely to quit Merseyside for a club such as 15th-placed Villa who cannot offer European football. Gerrard must now hope he can use his charisma and Liverpool links to sway Gomez after previously attracting ex-team-mate Philippe Coutinho on loan in January.
Gerrard did not play competitively with Gomez after leaving in July 2015 a month after the defender joined from Charlton for £3.5million. Gerrard was active in January signing Coutinho, Lucas Digne, Calum Chambers, Robin Olsen and Kerr Smith. He is set to be backed by the club’s ambitious billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens for another spree this summer.
Gerrard said: “A summer window is always the most important window out of the two. Recruitment is important in the summer because I can see this team and this squad taking steps forward. We’re happy where it’s at but the exciting part is what’s to come.
“There’s obviously a summer window and a full pre-season and people that are already in the building being used to us, even more. I think you’ll see huge strides in the coming months.” Villa face a big and expensive decision whether to make Coutinho’s loan permanent using a £33m clause.
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Coutinho, 29, scored four goals in his first eight appearances following a January loan switch from Barcelona but has failed to score for five matches with Villa picking up just one point. The club are considering whether to push ahead with their option to sign him on a permanent basis in the summer, which would likely require him to become the highest paid player in their history.
But Gerrard is confident it will only be a matter of time before his former Liverpool team-mate shines again after rave reviews early in his Villa spell. He said: “Phil will be fine. We can’t expect him to be man-of-the-match, creative and goalscoring every time he plays.
”We will continue to work with him and prepare him and I am sure it will only be a matter of time. I don’t have to defend Philippe Coutinho. He defends himself with the level he is at. He has shown in his time here is more than capable.”
