Brendan Rodgers promises Liverpool starlet Joe Gomez will not leave on loan

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists young defender Joe Gomez will remain at the club next season and compete for a spot in the first team.

Gomez, 18, joined the club from Charlton Athletic in June, but early reports suggested he would leave the club on loan for the 2015-16 season.

The defender, along with fellow summer signings Danny Ings, Nathaniel Clyne and James Milner, started in Liverpool's pre-season win over Brisbane Roar on 17 July in the second game of their tour of Australia and the Far East.

Goals from Adam Lallana and Milner helped the side to a 2-1 win, but it was Gomez's performance at left-back that caught the manager's eye.

"He's staying," Rodgers said when asked if the teenager would be leaving on loan, Liverpool's official website reports.

"I've seen enough in this period; you judge young players, I always bring them in and over pre-season have a good idea of whether we're going to keep them or not.

"Seeing him, in particular close at hand and his personality – he'll be staying, he'll get games.

"He's only 18 years of age, but seeing him play at left-back for the first time, he looked an outstanding athlete and a really good footballer. I've seen him at centre-half and at right-back, but I wanted to see him at left-back – and I thought he was outstanding."

While he played at left-back in Friday's win and was frequently used at right-back for Charlton last season, Gomez hopes for a role in the centre long-term.

"I think I am a ball-playing centre-back who likes to be physical and has got a bit of pace. I'd like to say I am a leader as well," Gomez told Liverpool's official website upon his arrival at the club.

"I made my debut and started playing at first last season at right-back. I really enjoyed it there because I like to get forward. But I definitely see myself as a centre-back, I feel more comfortable there and enjoy it there. So in the long-term, hopefully I'll be at centre-back."