Why Liverpool should lament the loss of another local as Curtis Jones joins Inter
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The last time Curtis Jones played at the San Siro, he identified why Liverpool’s tactics succeeded. Curtis Jones was the best player on the pitch when Liverpool beat Inter in December (Getty)Liverpool have not quite got their valuation – they wanted €40m (£34m) a few weeks ago – and, in a summer when prices have skyrocketed in the midfield market, with Mateus Fernandes going for £85m, Sandro Tonali £100m and Elliot Anderson £116m, there is the sense Inter are getting a bargain in Jones.Liverpool should have plenty of other regrets.
Jones was good enough to play for Liverpool – 228 times, more than Fabinho, Xabi Alonso or Philippe Coutinho – without necessarily nailing down a starting berth, seemingly to his frustration.He had good spells in each of the last three campaigns but has never started 20 league games in a season. The Dutchman pointed out that Jones played more matches in a year for him than ever before – 49 in 2025-26 – but the sense was his pecking order was too rigid; even when Alexis Mac Allister was poor last season, Slot tended to keep him in the team, along with Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, which cost Jones.
It was notable that his starring role at San Siro came in a midfield diamond, when Slot picked all four.Jones played 228 times for Liverpool but struggled to find a regular starting spot (Getty)Jones was a two-time Premier League title winner (Getty)He ended last season as the regular right-back; but that clearly was not a long-term role. In each of the last six years, his pass completion rate in the Premier League has been over 90 per cent, even though he does not always take the safe option; as his performance in the San Siro showed, he has the personality to want the ball.That charisma was apparent, too, when he became Liverpool’s youngest-ever captain, albeit while the senior squad were absent, at 19; the armband, and Jones’ ambition, were issues again in pre-season when Szoboszlai passed it to Kostas Tsimikas in pre-season, leading to an altercation.