Paul Joyce highlights three stats which should have Liverpool going all-out to keep Curtis Jones

There is growing uncertainty over the long-term future of Curtis Jones at Liverpool, but three statistics outlined by Paul Joyce show why it’d be downright negligent to let him leave Anfield without putting up a proper effort to try and keep him.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that ‘everything is on total standby’ regarding a new contract for the midfielder, whose current deal has just 14 months remaining and who continues to be tracked by several clubs across England and Europe.

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The 25-year-old has made 45 appearances for the Reds across all competitions this season, but only 14 of those have come as a starter in the Premier League (Transfermarkt), with the academy graduate still not managing to nail down a place in Arne Slot’s XI.

Jones is among Premier League’s top midfielders for several metrics

Joyce has penned an article for The Times in which he highlighted three stats which illustrate just how impressive Jones has been in the current top-flight campaign, whilst opining that the midfielder now finds himself at a career ‘crossroads’.

The journalist wrote: ‘It is not too difficult to imagine the reaction among Liverpool supporters were they to read that the club was pursuing a player second only to Rodri among midfielders for passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season.

‘Add to that, he is also ranked second behind Moisés Caicedo for passing accuracy, and second to Rayan Cherki for the number of carries, among those who have performed for at least 1,000 minutes in their club’s engine room. 

‘The clamour to sign him would be off the scale. Show reels from YouTube and clips on X going viral in a nanosecond. That player is already at Liverpool’s disposal, although for how long remains to be seen. Curtis Jones has a decision to make.’

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Selling Jones would make no sense for Liverpool

The performance figures highlighted by Joyce might come as a surprise to those who routinely criticise Jones as being short of the required standard for a Liverpool player.

The table below (from The Times) shows where the 25-year-old ranks among midfielders in the Premier League for three of the most important traits of a player in that position, and his underlying numbers in the recent Merseyside derby were outstanding.

In that context, it’d be hard to blame the Reds’ number 17 if he were to crave a transfer to a club where he’d be a guaranteed starter, and the Merseysiders would certainly have to pay a rather substantial amount if they were to sign an England international of his age and performance figures who’s one appearance shy of 150 in the country’s top flight.

Liverpool have operated with a sell-to-buy policy which has seen big-money signings funded by the exits of players who can command a handsome fee, as illustrated last summer by the departures of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Jarell Quansah and Caoimhin Kelleher, among others.

The Reds would certainly be able to demand a sizeable sum to part with Jones this year, but unless he were banging down the door to leave, it’d make little sense to offload him and then have to identify and recruit a superior replacement.

Hopefully all parties concerned can reach an amicable agreement over a contract extension for the 25-year-old sooner rather than later.

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