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Losing Virgil van Dijk last season was big, but it wasn’t exactly the death knell we thought it was for Liverpool FC. That actually came a month later, when Joe Gomez suffered his career-ending injury. Suddenly, an already thin centre-back corps was reduced to Joel Matip and Fabinho... and we know what happened. One silver lining to emerge from this extremely traumatic season was that the defenders had someone to go through the muck of rehabilitation with.
In an interview with the club’s official website, Gomez elaborated about how important it was to have his defensive partner’s presence on the comeback trail:
“It was massive [going through it with Van Dijk].”
“There were so many moments, right at the beginning, when we were at home on the sofa and couldn’t move, and we were FaceTiming and speaking about things.
“It’s someone to relate to, to vent to at times when you’re frustrated, so it was massive.
“I think we’re both thankful to have had each other; it was cruel circumstances, but it definitely made things easier.”
Virgil, Joe, Joel... we’re so thankful that you’re back. And now we have Ibrahima too!