Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has offered Joe Gomez a lifeline regarding his future at the club after admitting he expects all his current squad to remain with him this season. Speculation about the versatile defender began in June when he was linked with Newcastle and that intensified when he was left out of Slot’s first matchday squad for last weekend’s win at Ipswich. Liverpool have no intention of trying to push out their current longest-serving player, particularly as they would have to buy a last-minute replacement to ensure their squad is not left short. However, they have allowed him to explore his options in terms of being able to gain more playing time elsewhere, even if last season only Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold managed more minutes than him among the defenders, although much of that time was spent filling in at left-back. Asked where Gomez’s head was after being left out last week, Slot said: “It has been in the right place for three weeks. He has worked really hard since he came back.