Arne Slot tipped to sell midfielder amid ‘tiff’ with Liverpool boss and transfer

Curtis Jones has been tipped to leave Liverpool at the end of the season amid a ‘tiff’ with manager Arne Slot.

Jones, whose contract at Anfield expires next summer, has not started any of the last five games for the Reds.

AFP

At the start of January, the midfielder was left on the bench for the entire game against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Before that, he had started Liverpool’s previous six Premier League games, in which they won three and drew three.

Jones played the full 90 minutes in four of those six outings, but since then, he has only started twice, falling out of favour.

He was named in the line-up by Slot against Barnsley in the FA Cup and against Burnley at Anfield back in the league.

The England international has since been out of the Reds’ starting XI for five straight games, including their home defeat to Man City.

And that has left ex-Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant shocked by his lack of gametime considering the club’s recent struggles.

Asked whether he has been surprised by Jones being left out on the latest episode of talkSPORT’s Inside Liverpool podcast, Pennant replied: “Yes, but I can understand with [Dominik] Szoboszlai, [Ryan] Gravenberch and [Alexis] Mac Allister when he is Mac Allister.

“You would probably say that’s your best three in midfield.

“But he can give us legs and dictate the tempo sometimes, get forward and track back…he’s good on the ball.

“So for the last four or five games he’s not started, yeah, there’s a little bit of a question mark.”

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Tensions leading to exit?

Jones has played for Liverpool since he was nine, rising through the youth ranks and becoming a star across 16 years.

However, following links to Inter Milan and Tottenham in January, Pennant thinks his time could be up at his boyhood club.

He theorised: “To me, with the interest from Tottenham, his contract and Inter Milan, the bond with him and Slot…

“I think there’s been a bit of a tiff and not seeing eye-to-eye.”

Inside Liverpool host Sam Ellard and the panel then discussed the potential exit of the Merseyside-born 25-year-old.

Jones is the only scouser in the Reds’ current squad following the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold last summer.

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“It would be a travesty to see Jones go, not only because of his football ability but because he’s a scouser in the team,” Ellard said.

Former boxing pro and huge Liverpool fan Paul Smith then added: “It’s important for me personally to always have one homegrown scouse lad in the team if we can.

“But it doesn’t always work out that way, does it?”

What has Slot said on Jones?

On Jones’ limited starts and links away from Liverpool, Slot said earlier this month: “I think what you’ve seen, he has played a lot of minutes and is unlucky that midfield is the only line we haven’t had injuries.

“But we kept him, because we have players, but we need players in these positions. And the moment you start to need midfielders in different positions, the line gets smaller and smaller.

“We kept him, his situation hasn’t changed to us, he is one of 16 outfield players available we have with young players in [Trey] Nyoni and [Rio] Ngumoha, so it would be strange if we let anyone go.”

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