Kolkata, September 7: Liverpool's young centre-half Joe Gomez has no qualms whatsoever in having arch-rival Manchester United's legend defender Rio Ferdinand as his role model.

The 21-year-old has had a fine start to the new Premier League campaign along with defensive partner Virgil Van Dijk, playing in all the four matches.

He has already started receiving praise from all around and now the midfielder has revealed that he takes inspiration from former Premier league winning defender Ferdinand, who also used to have the same set of skills as a defender.

Joe Gomez was an absolute monster that half. Need to watch it back to pay attention to him tactically but in terms of impact defensively, he was outstanding making the most important pressure on the ball in our XI and most important defensive actions in our XI. pic.twitter.com/z6ttvKrL4q

— BabuYagu ✍️⚽ (@babuyagu) September 1, 2018

"I probably idolise Rio Ferdinand and so on but when it comes down to it, I’m still a defender and I’ve got to enjoy the art of defending,’" he said.

"I want to do all I can to inherit both aspects and I’m still learning and I want to study those players and even current ones as well.

Gomez mostly had been a second choice in the defence for Liverpool last season as Van Dijk joined the Reds from Southampton in January.

The Dutch defender and Dejan Lovren emerged as Jurgen Klopp’s first-choice pairing.

Moreover, his serious knee injury ahead of the Champions League final also hampered his chances, which also eventually cost him a place in the England squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

But the 21-year-old defender is now getting more starts as he and Van Dijk have forged a formidable partnership in the defence with Liverpool conceding only one goal in four games.

This tackle from Joe Gomez, well, it’s simply stupendous!

pic.twitter.com/zrCfd2p3S4

— Ben Webb (@BenWebbLFC) September 2, 2018

And speaking about his partnership with Van Dijk, the defender said he is enjoying more minutes with him.

Gomez also mentioned Manchester City defender John Stones as a figure for improving his game with whom he has now linked up in the international camp at England.

"I want to do all I can to inherit both aspects and I’m still learning and I want to study those players and even current ones as well.

"I look at even within our team, Virgil (van Dijk) is a great example to learn from. Here, John Stones is someone who I admire for his confidence and his ability on the ball. There’s a lot of top defenders around the world who I admire."