Last season, the focus was on whether or not Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah would extend their stays on Merseyside. The former departed for Real Madrid while the latter two penned new, two-year deals with the Premier League champions.
This season, the focus has been on Ibrahima Konate, Andrew Robertson and Arne Slot’s favoured midfield three; Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister. Konate and Robertson are out of contract at the end of the current season while the middle third trio all had deals until 2028.
Over recent years, Liverpool had been reactive to contract situations, likely because they’ve had a number of Sporting Directors come and go, with Michael Edwards, Julian Ward and Jorg Schmadtke all possessing the title before Edwards, now as FSG’s CEO of Football, appointed Richard Hughes. The former Bournemouth transfer guru is heading into his third summer in charge, making him the longest serving Sporting Director at Anfield since Edwards.
Hughes has been playing catch-up in his role. In a post-Jurgen Klopp world on Merseyside, players want to know what the long-term plan is and the level this current iteration of Liverpool are going to be reaching. The one-time Pompey midfielder was also given the unenviable task of thinning the ever-increasing wage bill.
You could almost forgive him for overlooking certain things in the interim while he addresses what he believed to be a priority. And, in truth, there have been a number of priorities since his appointment. However, his decision to so far ignore the Curtis Jones situation is becoming a little perplexing.
The 25-year-old is out of contract in 2027 and reports in January seemed to suggest he was close to a move to Inter. After a run in the starting XI, Jones was mysteriously dropped after the 1-1 draw with Burnley in mid-January. His next start for the Reds was mid-February in a much-changed team for the FA Cup clash with Brighton. Jones has started in four of the last 10 across all competitions, but the use of him has been bizarre, to say the least.
Having starred for the Reds in the FA Cup win over Wolves, he didn’t appear in a single minute of the 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in the Champions League. He started the 4-0 loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup before being limited to 12 minutes against PSG in Europe in a game Liverpool struggled to keep the ball in.
The No. 17 started the Fulham match but was replaced at half-time with an injury. In those opening 45 minutes though, he showcased exactly what the Reds had been missing in their middle third over recent weeks.
Jones retained the ball, completing 97% of his passes, and progressed things, playing almost 40% of his passes forward. Liverpool went into the break with a 2-0 lead and it was the best half of football they’d played in the Premier League in a while.
In the second half, Gravenberch replaced Jones and the Reds lost control. The Dutchman completed 100% of his passes but he attempted just 12 across the 45 minutes. The one-time Ajax youngster followed up that tepid showing with another against PSG in the return leg of the Champions League.
The former creative wide player was then named at right-back, again, for the Merseyside derby. He bossed it, playing as an inverted full-back. He finished the game having had the most touches, attempted the most passes with the highest pass success rate as well as finishing with the most defensive contributions. Jones recovered the ball on 16 occasions and wasn’t dribbled past.
With Liverpool in dire need of homegrown players, it makes no sense for Hughes not to be prioritising what should be an easy deal to do with Jones. He’s experienced, versatile and a Scouser. It looks as though he could well be sacrificed this summer to raise funds for new signings. The Reds are already losing big personalities at the end of the season in Salah and Robertson. It should make a new deal for Jones even more of a no-brainer.
He’s a Premier League winning midfielder, an England international, and he can play practically everywhere and anywhere in the team. He regularly covers the most ground and for a manager who yearns for total control, Jones is arguably the best technical player within the squad.
Everything points to a contract renewal being the best piece of business Liverpool could do this summer. Selling him might possibly be the worst thing they could do. In his last two starts, he controlled the game against Fulham and then ran the show against Everton from full-back. Hughes is spinning a lot of plates but this should be a priority right now. It should’ve been a priority ahead of a new deal for Gravenberch.