Andoni Iraola has voiced his determination to keep hold of one ‘very important’ player who’s been linked with an exit from Liverpool this summer.
The future of Curtis Jones remains up in the air now that he’s into the final year of his contract at Anfield, with Inter Milan having two bids rejected for the midfielder, and there were reports from Italy last weekend that an agreement had been reached with Nottingham Forest for the 25-year-old.
The player appeared to rubbish that speculation on social media when he responded to one such post with a raised eyebrow emoji in an apparent dismissal of the rumours, and his new boss has made it quite clear that the England international is firmly in his plans.
Speaking about Jones at his introductory press conference on Monday, Iraola outlined (via Liverpool Echo): “I will have the chance to speak with him today. I rate Curtis very highly. For me he is a great, great player and I hope he can continue with us and continue performing the way he has been performing.
“It’s very important that he’s Scouse, that he’s from here. I also like the personality. From the outside at least, he looks like a player with good character and I hope we can keep him, not only for this year but for more time.”
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Despite racking up 228 first-team appearances for Liverpool at the age of 25, Jones has never been guaranteed his place in the line-up, starting just under half of our Premier League matches over the past two seasons.
He may duly have been wondering just how much faith his boyhood club have in him, but Iraola seems unequivocal about the importance he places on the academy graduate.
In his press conference on Monday, the head coach referenced the need for extensive squad depth on several occasions, and therefore it’d make little sense to push a proven player out the door when he’s coming into his prime footballing years.
Jones would still need to be convinced to commit his long-term future to Liverpool, but hopefully a positive intervention from his new boss might nudge the midfielder towards penning a contract extension over the next few months.
For now, it’s great to see Iraola talking up his players so highly in public, having done the same with Harvey Elliott on Monday. His words will surely resonate quite positively within the dressing room, especially for those who’ve had doubts over their future at the club.
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