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Dejan Lovren is close to leaving Anfield after five years on Merseyside, having seen his playing time diminish this season.
The Croatian centre-back made just 13 Premier League appearances in 2018-19, with Joel Matip favoured alongside Virgil van Dijk at the back towards the end of the campaign.
Gomez is set to return from injury this summer and Lovren will become a fourth-choice defender.
Lovren has been linked with a move away from Anfield, with AC Milan reportedly exploring a bid.
Liverpool value the centre-back at £25million, and are in no rush to sell him for anything less this summer.
Speaking to The Sport Review, Barnes explained that taking the factors into consideration, he wouldn’t blame Lovren for leaving.
“With Joe Gomez coming back, if Lovren feels that he’s not going to be playing any more and he wants to play first-team football, fine,” Barnes said.
“I quite like him at Liverpool because of course, if players get injured, he can step in and do a good job.
“But players sometimes think to themselves that they want to play first-team football so therefore if he leaves, I’ll have every respect for him, rather than him just staying at Liverpool in the comfort zone.
“Maybe it is time for him to move on if that’s what he decides.”
Lovren is on a £100,000-per-week contract at Anfield and is tied down until 2021 with the option for an extra year, so it is possible that he could opt to stay at Liverpool and snub a move to Milan.
