Liverpool defender Joe Gomez now says move to Newcastle United was close in summer but he was happy it broke down

Newcastle United's big focus during the summer transfer window was to bring in a central defender to bolster the options in the back line. It seemed especially pressing in the summer with both Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman unavailable until the New Year.

The lengthy pursuit of Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace dominated the headlines in the summer for Newcastle, however, there were other options on the table such as Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori from AC Milan.

Another player Newcastle almost signed was Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez with the 27-year-old admitting to 90mins that a summer move almost happened.

Gomez didn't feature highly on fans' preferred defenders list, but he always acquits himself well when called upon by Liverpool and indeed England.

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Joe Gomez admits he's glad he stayed at Liverpool in the summer after almost signing for Newcastle

While he's only made 5 Premier League appearances for the table-topping Reds this season, he still feels he's made the right decision to stick around at Anfield.

"I love the club, I love being here," Gomez reflected. "It is a pleasure to be part of such a great group and we obviously have such a good foundation to hopefully achieve something this year and that is what you want to be part of. I love being here."

"[Leaving for Newcastle] was definitely for real. My focus was always on the club. I know how blessed I am to be here and it will be ten years in the summer. I don't take that for granted.

"It is the best club in the world in my eyes and it was quickly a case of adapting and getting into the swing of things. It was good to put it to bed. It's football. To be somewhere ten years and not have any blips would not be natural.

"It is tricky because you don't know when the chance will come or under what circumstances, what position and so on and so forth. But I can only control what I can focus on, and that is being the best professional I can be."

Who are we to disturb a man so comfortable on his bench?

If Gomez is happy being a bit-part player for Liverpool rather than a regular starter for Newcastle then we are also glad that the move broke down.

We understand his affinity for the club at which he's spent 10 years, but for us, it shows a lack of ambition that he doesn't believe he's worthy of a regular starting spot.

Whether Gomez is still one of the players being considered in the future by Newcastle is unknown, but we'd happily see his name scratched off the list.