Andoni Iraola's Strong Stance on Curtis Jones at Liverpool
Andoni Iraola has barely had time to find his way around Kirkby, but he already knows one thing: he does not want to start his Liverpool reign by losing Curtis Jones.
The Spaniard walked into his first Anfield press conference with questions swirling around the midfielder’s future. One year left on his deal. Two bids from Inter Milan turned away. Fresh noise from Italy about Nottingham Forest striking an agreement. For a player who has lived his entire footballing life inside this club, the ground suddenly looked less certain.
Jones answered the latest round of rumours with a raised-eyebrow emoji on social media, a digital shrug at the suggestion he was on his way out. Iraola went much further. He nailed his colours to the mast.
“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,” he said, via the Liverpool Echo. No caveats. No gentle diplomacy. Just a clear statement that, as far as the new head coach is concerned, Jones belongs at the heart of his plans.
A Scouser at the core
For Iraola, this is not only about footballing ability. It is about identity.
“It’s very important that he’s Scouse, that he’s from here,” he added. “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.”
Those are not throwaway lines. Liverpool are stepping into a new era after Jürgen Klopp, with a new coaching staff, new ideas and, inevitably, new fault lines to navigate. In moments like that, the players who carry the accent of the city and the story of the academy tend to matter more, not less.
Jones, at 25, sits right in that space. No longer a prospect. Not yet a veteran. A player who has racked up 228 first-team appearances but has never fully escaped the feeling of being on trial for his place.
Trusted, but never quite untouchable
The numbers tell their own story. Despite that appearance tally, Jones has started just under half of Liverpool’s Premier League games across the last two seasons. Important, yes. Indispensable, no. Not in the way some of his team-mates have been.
For a boyhood Red, that cuts both ways. It is a sign of trust that successive managers have kept turning to him. It is also a reminder that he has never been completely locked into the XI. The temptation to ask how much the club truly believes in him would be natural.
Iraola’s early stance goes straight at that doubt. In his first outing in front of the cameras, he repeatedly stressed the need for depth, for options, for players who can carry the load of a long season. In that context, sanctioning the departure of a homegrown midfielder entering his prime would be a strange opening move.
This is not a coach talking about a fringe player. This is a coach making it clear he sees Jones as part of the solution.
The contract question
All of which leads to the real battle: the contract.
Liverpool have already shown their hand in the market by turning away Inter’s advances. The interest is real, the suitors serious. Nottingham Forest have been dragged into the story from Italy, even if the player himself has publicly dismissed the talk.
The club can reject bids. They cannot sign the extension for him.
Jones now stands at a crossroads that many academy graduates never reach. Stay and commit to a fresh project under a new head coach who plainly wants him, or test himself elsewhere after a decade of living inside one of the game’s most intense environments.
Iraola has made his pitch quickly. He has highlighted the quality, the character, the local roots. He has spoken not just about keeping Jones for the season, but “for more time”. For a manager only just through the door, that is as strong a signal as he can send.
The next move belongs to the midfielder. Will he choose to anchor this new Liverpool from the inside, or decide that his prime years demand a different stage?
