Klopp: Konate Injury Shows Importance Of Gomez Deal

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits Ibrahima Konate's injury proves how important Joe Gomez signing a new contract was.

Gomez penned a new deal in July, further extending a spell with Liverpool that began when he arrived from Charlton Athletic in 2015, and it was put to Klopp that it could be a 'big' season for the No.2.

“For Joe, it's most important that he stays fit and that's what we try to help him with all we can – because that was the stop-and-go situations, not that he was like fit from the first day and I didn't pick him just for quality reasons, that was never the case," said Klopp.

“When he was constantly fit, he played an awful lot of games. We all know that last year we could rotate like crazy between the three of them [Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk] in the beginning, with Joey not fit. Then when he became fit, it worked really well.

“There were always reasons. And if he stays fit, then everything will be fine for him. He's an outstanding player. Yes, he needs rhythm, like we all need rhythm, and we try to give him that, that's clear.

“And yes, the good news is that when you have a massive blow, like it is with Ibou, you need to have solutions. Our solutions in the moment is the situation we have, so we are still there.

“How I said, always the same, you need to be lucky with injuries because we are very self-critical and think about what we could've done differently. But pretty much all, apart from the contact injuries which always can happen, they are all good reasons which we couldn't influence, so that's the case.

“It's all OK for the moment but Joey committed his future to the club, so I can't see why the next year should be so important for him to prove. He doesn't have to prove [to] us. I wanted him to stay. He's a top player and he will play football games for Liverpool, definitely."

Source: Tribalfootball