FIFA to pay Liverpool £2m in compensation to cover wages of Joe Gomez after knee

FIFA are set to pay Liverpool £2million in compensation to cover the wages of crocked Joe Gomez.

The defender suffered a serious knee injury in England’s final training session ahead of Thursday night’s 3-0 friendly win against the Republic of Ireland.

It is feared he will miss the rest of the season in news that came as a hammer blow to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

Joe Gomez underwent knee surgery after suffering a serious injury in training with England

It has left Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with a defensive headache going forward

Liverpool will receive compensation to pay the defender’s wages around £80,000 a week

The Football Association have confirmed to Sportsmail that FIFA will pay the money to cover Gomez’s wages, understood to be in the region of £80,000 a week.

England players are covered by the FIFA club protection programme, an insurance package that allows clubs to claim directly via the scheme.

The protection covers injuries to players in all A matches, friendlies and training sessions.

FIFA will calculate the compensation on a pro rata basis until Gomez is able to restart first-team training.

Klopp is without two key defenders with Virgil van Dijk also out for the majority of the season

The maximum cover under the scheme is £6.75m covering 365 days, calculated at a maximum pro rata daily rate of £18,430.

Liverpool have not ruled Gomez out for the season, but Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster was out for 10 months with the same kind of injury in 2015 while at Southampton.

A similar spell on the sidelines would mean seven months before Gomez would be close to a return to training. The protection does not cover the first 28 days, but would still see the Anfield club lodging a £2m claim.

The substantial pay out will be no consolation to Klopp, who needs to navigate 11 games with only one recognised centre back until the January transfer window opens.