Liverpool set £23m asking price as Fulham plan double raid in summer transfer window

Posted Wednesday, March 16, 2022 by Express.co.uk

FULHAM are plotting a double raid on Liverpool this summer - to capture both Neco Williams and Joe Gomez.

The runaway Championship leaders are on the verge of being promoted straight back to the Premier League, with a strong lead over third-placed Huddersfield.

Wales full-back Williams has been a huge hit at Craven Cottage since joining Fulham on loan from Liverpool for the rest of the season in January - and the Londoners are keen to work out another possible loan deal to keep him for next season in the top flight - or even a permanent deal.

But Fulham are also interested in centre-back Gomez, who has started only one league game this season at Anfield, and has slipped down the pecking order with the arrival of Ibrahima Konate, starting only one league game so far this season.

Liverpool set £23m asking price as Fulham plan double raid in summer transfer window
Liverpool value Joe Gomez at £23million (Image: GETTY)

England defender Gomez, who started his career at Charlton, is though rated at around £23 million by Liverpool, and that could prove a stumbling block for the London club.

And 24 year old Gomez’s situation is also being closely watched by West Ham, Newcastle and Tottenham.

The English defender had originally staked his claim as Klopp's preferred choice to play alongside Virgil van Dijk before his injury in November 2020. But Joel Matip has cemented his place in the starting line-up this season with Konate the preferred third-choice. However, Klopp insisted back in December that he still values Gomez as a huge part of Liverpool's future.

Liverpool set £23m asking price as Fulham plan double raid in summer transfer window
Neco Williams has impressed at Fulham (Image: GETTY)

"So, it was obviously not the best year for Joe with the injury and then coming back and having another injury because that’s how it can go,” Klopp said previously. "We didn’t rush his recovery or rehab from the tendon injury, but when you start playing again and training again and all these kinds of things after long term - [and] we had then four 100 per cent fit centre-halves, which is why it is not so easy to get game time immediately - then you have game time, then you play and then the body is not ready for it and that’s it.

"We are patient and I think Joe is patient now as well, that’s the situation. I don’t have any plans to give anybody on loan in the winter, so I will not be the driving force, let me say it like this. Nobody came to me and asked if they could go somewhere. Joe is now only back for a proper week or so, but because of the circumstances and things like this he could be involved in the squad, but he still needs time. He needs time to train, to get where he has been before.”