Leeds United and Crystal Palace could get January opportunity to land Premier League winner

Leeds United were linked with a surprise move for Liverpool defender Joe Gomez during the summer transfer window - and reports have suggested the England international could be available for a move in the new year.

The Whites conducted an extensive recruitment drive during their preparations for their big return to the Premier League after landing the Championship title last season. Several defenders were added to Daniel Farke’s ranks as they landed deals for full-back duo Gabriel Gudmundsson and James Justin and centre-backs Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw.

However, despite the reported interest in 15-times capped England international Gomez, the defender remained at Anfield as Liverpool look to defend their Premier League title this season.

Speaking ahead of the final week of the summer transfer window as speculation over the defender’s future continued, Reds boss Arne Slot said: “At this moment, I’m expecting everyone to be here, but you are maybe longer in football than I am [and know] that everything can change. Yeah [his head has been in the right place] for three weeks. He’s worked really hard since he came back.

“He didn’t play a lot at the Euros and when he came back in the first sessions he couldn’t train for the whole session, so we had to manage his load a bit. That was also a reason why he wasn’t in the team. This week he had a good week in terms of load, how much he could do with the team. He’s one of the players that I see new things from and learn things from what I see from him, also combined with other players. It’s been a good week for him and us until now.”

Despite speculation over Gomez’s future at Anfield continuing until the final hours of the transfer window, the defender remained with the Premier League champions when the trading came to an end. However, he has made just two appearances during the opening two months of the season and they both came as a substitute in home wins against Bournemouth and Arsenal.

Prepared

Gomez’s only start came in a 2-1 Carabao Cup win against Championship side Southampton and he has not played a minute in Liverpool’s last four Premier League fixtures or last two Champions League ties. That has led to speculation the versatile defender could make a January move away from Merseyside and CaughtOffside have claimed the Reds ‘would ideally prefer’ to keep the former Charlton Athletic man - but ‘would be prepared to let him go if the money was right’.

Serie A giants AC Milan are said to have retained their interest in the defender and there is also a suggestion Gomez could be involved in any possible discussions over Liverpool’s interest in Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, who almost moved to Anfield during the summer transfer window.

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