Jürgen Klopp has insisted that 19-year-old centre-back Joe Gomez will be staying put at Liverpool for the remainder of the season, rather than going out on loan.

The Englishman has been linked with a loan move away from Liverpool in January, but the German manager believes he will benefit more if he stays at the club.

Gomez only returned to action last month, following a year out with an achilles and anterior cruciate ligament injuries, where he featured for the Liverpool under-23s.

Since then he has featured a further two times as he aims to rebuild his match fitness, but he is still some way from featuring for the first-team again.

Gomez is an unbelievable talent

Speaking on Friday, Klopp was asked whether Gomez could compete for a first-team spot during the new year or whether he will be heading out on loan. In response, Klopp said: “No to the second question about a loan.

“For us, I don’t think so. We had a very good talk. What I think about Joe Gomez is he is an unbelievable talent, which everybody knew before.

“It’s a long injury and if we send him on loan, with his quality, a team will play him every game. That is not what he needs in the moment. Because he was a long time injured he needs us to judge: ‘now play, now stop, rest, work on this, do this, do a little bit on this’.”

Gomez has already started his pre-season

Klopp sees the second half of the season as an early attempt for Gomez to prepare himself for the 2017/18 season, so that he can play a big part in the team in the near future.

Klopp continued: “He’s our boy for the future 100%.

“This half a year playing I don’t know, playing the highest level he can, maybe. We have him. So maybe he is an option for the first team. But maybe not for this season.

“His pre-season has already started and he can get match time, and will have match time for sure with the under-23s. That’s very important.

“There’s no rush for him, and no rush for me. At this moment I would say ‘no loan’ but everything else, we will see.”

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