Joe Gomez appears on track in his recovery from hamstring surgery with a view to returning before the end of Liverpool’s season, as Arne Slot hinted on Friday.
Gomez was required to undergo surgery to correct a hamstring issue towards the end of February, having suffered a re-injury upon his return to action against Plymouth.
The defender has already missed nine games before being brought back into the side for that FA Cup tie, but only lasted 11 minutes, with his subsequent layoff standing at six more games so far.
Not expected to play a big part in Liverpool’s run-in, Gomez is at least on course to return to availability before the campaign is over.
In a brief update on Friday, when asked about his squad’s perceived luck with injuries, Slot explained that his No. 2 is “out now for three months.”
Gomez back for the run-in?
While it is unclear if he meant three months from the injury at Plymouth or from his surgery date, either way that would place his return-to-play timeline at around early-to-mid May.
Liverpool play their final four games of the Premier League season that month, with Chelsea away (May 3), Arsenal at home (May 10), Brighton away (May 18) and Crystal Palace at home (May 25) their opponents.
If they reach the Champions League final, too, there would be two additional fixtures with a semi-final second leg on May 6/7 and the final in Munich on May 31.
Gomez is unlikely to play a major role in Liverpool’s end to the season but, if the title is already wrapped up by his return, it stands to reason that he could be rotated into the side in the league.
His availability could be particularly useful if so, with it imperative that Slot keeps the likes of Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold fit.
That remains a long way in the distance of course, and there will be no risks taken when it comes to Gomez’s recovery.
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This latest layoff comes ahead of a summer that could see renewed interest in a transfer for the 27-year-old, who was close to joining Newcastle around the start of the current campaign.
He instead stayed for what is his 10th season as a Liverpool player, but it could be that the next transfer window brings a change for a player established as a squad option for Slot.
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