Does renewing Curtis Jones’ contract make sense for Liverpool?

It looks set to be another summer of upheaval at Anfield with Liverpool expected, once again, to make wholesale changes to their squad.

Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson have already confirmed they will be leaving at the end of the season. Recent quotes from Joe Gomez hint at a departure for him. Reports seem to imply Alisson Becker could be heading to Juventus while there are question marks over the long-term futures of Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s Sporting Director, does not have an enviable summer ahead. To complicate things even further, the former Bournemouth transfer guru needs to figure out what is going on with Curtis Jones.

*Jones’ current player traits comparison*

The 25-year-old was a shock transfer target for Spurs and Inter during the January transfer window and, at one stage, a loan move to Italy looked to be a formality. It didn’t come to fruition and the Scouse-born midfielder remained at Anfield, albeit watching on from the sidelines after being inexplicably benched by Arne Slot.

Fabrizio Romano recently revealed Inter’s interest in Jones remains. Writing on his WhatsApp channel, Romano revealed that the No. 17 is open to joining the Serie A champions while his contract renewal is “on hold”:

“Curtis Jones is fully open to joining Inter. He is keen on the project, the country, and the significant interest Inter have been showing him since January. Liverpool’s approval is still needed, and a fee has yet to be set, but his contract renewal is, as things stand, completely on hold.”

And David Lynch confirmed the contract situation, saying talks over an extension are understood to have effectively ceased, and it is known that he was open to a January move to Inter Milan before the Reds shut the door. The 2024/25 Premier League champions would bank pure profit on the midfielder under the Premier League’s new squad cost ratio rule.

With Liverpool needing to raise funds ahead of another summer of spending, perhaps Jones will be sacrificed. At his peak, just 12 months ago, the England international was valued at €62million.

But perhaps the smart business here would be to renew the versatile midfielder. The Reds are already having to juggle multiple transfer angles this summer, unnecessarily adding another seems excessive.

There’s a lot of talk over what Liverpool do actually need. A ball-playing right-back appears to be a priority for a lot of fans, as does a controlling midfielder. In Jones, they have both.

Over recent weeks, the former left-winger has been deployed at right-back with Conor Bradley injured and Jeremie Frimpong being favoured at right-wing. Jones has actually impressed in an inverted role. For example, against Chelsea, he had the joint-most touches (95) and seemed comfortable in the hybrid role.

In the Merseyside derby win over Everton, Jones finished with a match-high 8.4 FotMob rating. The 25-year-old had the most touches (118), had the most defensive contributions (28), and finished with a pass success rate of 94%.

Earlier in the campaign, during a time in which Slot tinkered with the system and deployed Jones alongside Szoboszlai in a double pivot, the six-cap England international impressed in the middle of the pitch. In one game in particular, he was at the centre of everything. In Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, Jones had the most touches (139), attempted 127 passes, finding a teammate with 122 of those, won over 60% of his duels while covering 11.1km.

He followed that showing up with another dominant performance, this time in a 3-2 loss to Brentford. The No. 17 completed 97% of the 75 passes he attempted, he tied a match high six dribbles and won 63% of his duels.

He’s shown he can play multiple roles to a high level. He’s shown he can be the ball-playing right-back Liverpool might want as well as a midfield controller that they desperately need. His versatility makes him a valuable squad player – as does his homegrown status.

As far as easy decisions go, giving Jones a new deal makes a lot more sense than allowing him to leave and having to find someone to fill his role in the squad.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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