FIFA are prepared to pay Liverpool £2m in compensation to cover the wages of defender Joe Gomez, who suffered a serious knee injury while on international duty with England.
The 23-year-old damaged a tendon in his left knee in the final training session prior to the Three Lions' 3-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland, and after undergoing successful surgery, he is now beginning the long road to recovery.
This setback could see Gomez potentially miss the remainder of the season, after the club placed no timescale on a possible return. And according to the Daily Mail, governing body FIFA are set to offer Liverpool a compensation packet of £2m, to cover the costs of their star's £80,000-a-week wages.
This funding will come from the FIFA club protection programme, a scheme which allows clubs to claim money back from the governing body, should their player suffer an injury on international duty. The scheme covers knocks received in training, friendlies and competitive matches.
FIFA will calculate the compensation owed to the Reds, based on how long Gomez will be sidelined by this injury. It has not been officially confirmed that the defender will be out for the rest of the current campaign, but other stars have been known to miss around 10 months of action with the same problem.
This peace offering will not soften the blow of such a major loss for Jurgen Klopp and his side, who are in the midst of a defensive injury crisis. Talisman Virgil van Dijk suffered a knee injury of his own in the Merseyside derby back in October, which could keep the towering centre-back off the pitch all season, while goalkeeper Alisson Becker has missed chunks of the campaign through his own fitness issues.
Klopp has relied on holding midfielder Fabinho to step in at the heart of defence in recent weeks, but the Brazilian picked up an injury against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League, leaving his German coach particularly short of cover.
Source : 90min