Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has claimed defender Joe Gomez will not be leaving the club this month.

The 19-year-old is in contention to make his first appearance for the club since sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury whilst representing England on Under-21 duty.

It denied him the opportunity to work under Klopp, who took up the reins at Anfield days before his unfortunate setback, but the German tactician sees no reason for him to be loaned out.

“It depends on the quality of the player – it’s not about having the talent or whatever, if you bring a talent too early then it doesn’t help him, that’s how it is. But Joe, for sure, is worth keeping kind of space in the squad for,” he told the club’s official website.

“It was really unlucky, I still can remember the situation when he had the injury. I saw it in the U21 game, I watched it on television and thought ‘Oh my God!’. So, really unlucky.

“Of course, sometimes life should be nice, that the train is not running away without you, and that’s what we always thought about that.

“Everybody was sure about his quality, everybody is sure about his quality. He’s a very, very young boy and we took him for a reason – Ok before I was here, but it was a good reason.

“So yes, we try to create somehow space that he can develop and perform when possible.”

Prior to his lengthy absence, Gomez, who joined from Charlton in the summer of 2014 for around £4 million, made seven appearances for the Reds in all competitions with the majority of those appearances coming at left-back.

It remains to be seen whether Gomez can force his way into Klopp’s starting lineup even if his first choice left-back is midfielder James Milner.

The Reds face Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup third round on Sunday which could see Gomez make his first minutes in a Liverpool shirt since returning to full health.