Arne Slot explains Curtis Jones situation as Liverpool faces transfer interest

Liverpool had no interest in losing Curtis Jones during the January transfer window despite talk of Inter Milan making a move for the 25-year-old academy graduate

Curtis Jones warms up before the Premier League game between Liverpool and Newcastle(Image: Kate McShane/Getty Images)

Curtis Jones drew transfer interest from Inter Milan in the January transfer window, though Liverpool never had any intention of letting him leave — the Reds' roster simply isn't big enough to have even considered it.

But with only 18 months or so left on his contract, Liverpool will need to ensure that a key homegrown player is tied down for longer, as Jones, now 25, enters the peak years of his career.

"I think what you've seen... he has played a lot of minutes; not all of them," Slot said in his pre-Manchester City press conference. "He is also unlucky in the sense that midfield is the only line we haven't had injuries, but still he has played a lot of minutes.

"That's of course why we kept him as well because we have in that line a lot of players, but we need these midfielders in different positions as well. And the moment you start to need midfielders in different positions, the line gets smaller and smaller.

"Of course we kept him, and his situation hasn't changed to us. He is one of 16 outfield players we have available now and we have two really young players with Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha included, so it would be strange if we let anyone go.

"(Contract) talks are not taking place here (in the press conference); talks are taking place in other places in this building. The moment we have news, we share it here. We are all aware he has one and a half years left, so that is all I can say."

Arne Slot has made his feelings clear on Curtis Jones amid suggestions another club has been eyeing him up(Image: Getty Images)

Jones has played 30 games for Liverpool so far this season, though he has only made 10 starts in the Premier League.

"I think that the biggest thing is that I still have to have the humble way about myself and I don’t want to say, ‘Yeah, nah, I’m gonna be captain’ or anything like that," Jones told Sky Sports in December.

"But I want to be captain of the team. I want to stay here for all my life like the man who I look up to, as everybody knows is Steven Gerrard.

"If I could follow him, I mean that would be great. I would never complain. I would always have a smile on my face, especially because of who he is in the city and stuff but then how he’s obviously seen in the footballing world.

"If you go and speak with like legends who obviously played the game and [ask] who they wish that they played with or anything like that, they always seem to say him.

"And then players who have obviously played with him and how he was on the training pitch and all things like that, I want to be seen the same way."

Liverpool.com says: Jones is a really valuable player in the Reds' squad. Keeping him needs to be a priority, with talks with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai needed as well.