Alan Hutton has urged Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez to leave this summer in search of regular first-team opportunities elsewhere.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former Tottenham Hotspur man Hutton believes Gomez should seek a fresh challenge in his career after falling down the pecking order at Anfield last season under Jurgen Klopp’s charge.
“For him now at the age he’s at, I think he has to leave.
“I think Liverpool as a club will know what he’s capable of. That’s probably the main thing about it. He did come in and play alongside [Virgil] van Dijk and he flourished up until the injury which was a shame.
“I think he has to go and try and get football. Liverpool have brought in players and that’s knocked him down the pecking order.
“So it doesn’t look like he’s in a position to command a start within the team.
“For me personally I think he has to leave, he needs a new challenge. He has to go somewhere where he’s going to play week in, week out and get back to that level from before the injury.“
Hutton’s remarks come amid recent rumours that have suggested Liverpool’s strong interest in opening talks with Gomez over a new long-term deal which is said to be a priority for the club’s new sporting director Julian Ward.
Gomez’s current terms in the Liverpool colours expire in the summer of 2024 and there is no shortage of suitors across the land keeping close tabs on the England international’s situation on Merseyside.
Aston Villa are tipped to be leading the race to move in for the Liverpool first-team outcast who managed just 21 outings last term after recovering from a seven-month-long layoff on the sidelines with a knee injury.
