John Aldridge has implored Liverpool not to sell two players who’ve recently been linked with potential exits from Anfield in the summer.
Last week, Fabrizio Romano claimed that Curtis Jones’ contract situation is on ‘standby’ (he has 14 months remaining on his current deal) and he could duly become a ‘really interesting option’ for several prospective suitors.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports reported earlier this week that Juventus have now made Alisson Becker a ‘top target’ for the upcoming transfer window, following on from Paul Joyce writing that ‘there is renewed doubt‘ as to how much longer the goalkeeper will stay with the Reds.
In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge made the case for his former club to keep hold of both players, particularly amid the context of other high-profile departures, and questioned how those rumours originated in the first place.
He wrote: ‘Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson will be leaving the club at the end of the month and there has been talk about other players who could leave, such as Alisson and Curtis Jones. I don’t know where this talk has come from. I feel like someone is trying to throw a spanner in the works.
‘There’s no way Liverpool can let Alisson and Jones go this summer. We’ve had one big transition last year. Alisson can play at Anfield for another four or five years. Why make the squad situation any more difficult?
‘I can’t see the point in letting someone like him go. I know he’s had some injury problems this year that have affected his kicking a bit but it feels like someone outside the club just trying to cause chaos.
‘As for Jones, he’s a local lad and a Liverpool fan. Where would he go? I’d be very surprised he if left.’
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Even though his playing time over the past couple of seasons has been significantly curtailed by injuries, Alisson remains a crucial figure for Liverpool, and to lose him off the back of Salah and Robertson leaving would be an enormous blow for the Reds.
The Brazilian is a standard bearer on the pitch and in the dressing room, and we’ve already seen several big leadership presences depart over the past three years.
Meanwhile, for all the criticism that Jones gets, some of his underlying performance statistics are among the best of any Premier League midfielder this season, and he’s currently the one local presence in the senior squad, a commodity which should never be dismissed or underappreciated.
That alone shouldn’t get a player into the first-team setup, but the 25-year-old has proven over the past several years that he belongs at this level. If he didn’t, there’s no way he’d have surpassed 200 appearances for Liverpool.
We fully agree with Aldridge that it’d be a massive risk to let either of them depart in the summer, and we firmly hope that both will agree to remain with the Reds for at least another season, even if their contract situations are both at that delicate one-year stage.
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Alisson absolutely have to keep and but I am unsure on Jones. Good squad player but he just does not give me a load of confidence. On the one hand, he looses the ball pretty easily, needs a lot of time on the ball, does stupid flicks when there is no need to but on the other hand he can play in a variety of positions and when allowed to does push forward with pace and purpose. If he stays he will be a squad player because of his bad points
The thing is do Allison and Jones want to stay? I don’t believe they do. That says it all about how Slot has completely ruined the togetherness at LFC. Players are wanting to jump this sinking toxic ship
Sorry John but you must take you’re scouse blinkers off Jones is just not good enough, never been a liverpool player, never will be
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