Liverpool midfielder fails contract audition

Florian Wirtz reported an injury in the warm up ahead of Liverpool’s narrow 1-0 Premier League win against Nottingham Forest.

The £116m signing’s back problem opened the door for Curtis Jones to start in midfield - his first start in the Premier League since January 17.

But the champions lacked fluency through the midfield - particularly in the first half - before eventually overcoming the Tricky Trees in injury time.

By that stage Jones had been replaced by Joe Gomez - who shored up the defence.

Although Jones, 25, started the game as a midfielder he ended up being shunted to right-back. Arne Slot had seen enough from Jones to warrant moving Dominik Szoboszlai back into his regular midfield station during the first half.

Arne Slot drops worrying Jones midfield hint

The Hungarian had been filling in once again at right-back as the Anfield side’s difficulties in that position show no signing of slowing down.

For Jones it goes down as a missed opportunity to stake a claim in Slot’s XI - with Wirtz due to return to the side for next weekend’s fixture against West Ham.

“It was about having more control over their midfield,” Slot said to Sky Sports of changing Szoboszlai and Jones around.

“I just highlighted how well they played. We lost every ball. We could not keep the ball for one second. If we went long, we lost the duel. We lost a lot of second balls.

“The only part of the game that went well was defending inside the box. I saw players throwing themselves for long balls, had to defend set pieces. That’s what we did well and stayed in the game.

“The second half I saw something slightly different. We took over the game.”

Jones wanted by Tottenham and Inter

Jones won only three of his 10 duels - and didn’t win the only tackle he attempted in the game either - emphasising Liverpool’s struggles in midfield. We are approaching a very serious crossroads for the England international.

He is out of contract in 2027 and right now no new deal appears to be on the horizon. The last time he renewed his contract was back in 2022 - when he was a squad player under Jurgen Klopp.

Jones will obviously be eyeing a pay rise - but given his peripheral role under Slot in recent weeks it remains to be seen whether Richard Hughes decides to give it to him.

Right now there is a very real possibility that the Merseysiders take the opportunity to cash in on their homegrown talent at the end of the season - with both Tottenham and Inter on his case.

He is running out of matches to convince Slot - and Hughes for that matter - that he is worth persisting with as a starting option. The next chance he gets he must take.

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