In recent days the Merseyside club have been linked with a move for Athletic Bilbao winger Inaki Williams but the pacey and skilful Spaniard appears to have dismissed the speculation, as he said when quizzed by Spanish newspaper AS, he said:
“I’m happy at Athletic, it’s where I want to be. I am very grateful to the fans, the club and my team-mates. I want to continue here for many more years. I want to be Athletic’s future number nine – the player who raises the roof at San Mames every week and scores lot of goals.”
Williams is one of Europe’s most exciting young talents and Liverpool are said to be one of a number of potential suitors, but for now it seems that the winger will remain at his current club in the Basque country. Currently in some of the best form of his career to date, the Reds could find themselves facing more competition by the time he is ready to leave the north of Spain.
Jurgen Klopp has made one thing very clear though, as he revealed that a decision has been made over who is the number one goalkeeper at the club after weeks of competition between summer signing Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet as he told the press:
“In this moment, we have a No1 and that is Loris Karius. That’s the situation. I cannot leave them in doubt… After the last international break, I spoke to both of them and made that decision. There’s nothing else to say. I’ve made that decision. Loris is No1 at this moment and Simon is No2… It is a luxury problem for me. I made the decision and of course he was not happy about it but he is a really good professional. We have had a few talks and I don’t have the perfect answer for him. He’s still not happy but nobody can see this in training. He is working hard.”
Karius has been unconvincing in his displays so far this campaign but is highly rated after an impressive spell in Germany and is believed to have huge potential. Mignolet, on the other hand, has failed to convince the Anfield faithful since signing under Brendan Rodgers, and will now play the role of second choice goalkeeper, starting with him starting in the EFL Cup against Tottenham tonight.
Another man in contention could be young central defender Joe Gomez as Jurgen Klopp plans to assess whether he should remain at the club or head out on loan to Bournemouth in January, claim the Daily Mail. The 19-year-old has impressed the German and Klopp believes he will be a real talent in the future, but is not sure if he will be able to do enough to earn the first team minutes that his development requires at Anfield.
If Gomez struggles to oust the likes of Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan in the coming weeks, or even possibly James Milner at left back, then he could be adding to his 31 first team appearances in his senior career in the colours of Bournemouth on loan to ensure he continues to improve after a serious lay-off.
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