Liverpool have hit gold on “special” academy gem

Liverpool are an efficient club. Some would say circumspect, but FSG operate within their parameters and know that their formula perpetuates success.

It can be frustrating, at times, but you need only look back at the Premier League’s winding road over the past decade to note the fragilities and dysfunctions of some of Anfield’s biggest rivals, and how Jurgen Klopp’s side have been perched in the ascendency for the lion’s share of this time-frame.

Arne Slot was met with a lack of first-team investment after taking on the impossible task of succeeding his larger-than-life predecessor, but Liverpool are flying at the top of the Premier League and in confident positions in the Champions League and Carabao Cup too.

Whatever FSG are doing, it’s working. And this is why Liverpool’s willingness to let Ben Doak leave – for the right price – isn’t a disaster, but a calculated decision.

Why Liverpool may sell Doak

As per The Times’ Paul Joyce, Liverpool have rejected bids from Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace for Doak this month, worth £16m and £15m respectively.

Liverpool would welcome their talented winger back to the club at the end of the season but the fact that they have responded to bids with their £30m valuation makes a convincing comment on their selling stance.

For £30m, Liverpool would hit the jackpot and then some, for he has only played half a term of Championship football, and talented he may be, the Scotland international is not so unexpendable that any tentative raised hands are shot down instantly.

This is conjecture, but it’s curious that Liverpool should be open to cashing in given that Mohamed Salah is out of contract at the end of the season and Federico Chiesa has also been linked with a move away. Might this portend Salah’s renewal?

In any case, it’s a shining endorsement of Liverpool’s academy scene. Doak might be the cream of the current Kirkby crop after signing from Celtic several years ago, but some existing homegrown stars are actually worth more than him.

Of course, Trent Alexander-Arnold is the cream of the crop, but Curtis Jones is also flying after years of on-off flashes of prominence in the first team.

Jones’ Liverpool career

Jones made his senior debut back in 2019 as a 17-year-old, though it was a year later that he decried his quality across Merseyside, scoring a sumptuous curling strike as Liverpool beat Everton in the FA Cup.

Said to have “all the attributes of a top player” by former captain Jordan Henderson, the 23-year-old is now proving that support with his dynamic performances, capable across a range of midfield roles.

He’s also been praised for his “truly special” quality on the ball by one analyst, and will be delighted to note that consistency has entered his game this season, on course for his best individual campaign yet in the English top flight.

He’s flying this term, backing his potency up with a 95% pass completion rate in the Premier League, also averaging 1.3 tackles per game and winning 53% of his duels, as per Sofascore.

The sky’s the limit, with Jones proving that he can play a fundamental part in Liverpool’s future under Slot. Doak is the talk of the academy at the moment and touted for big things, but Jones has always slipped under the radar somewhat – now, he’s shining, with a market value that reflects his gains.

Why Slot has hit gold with Jones

Jones’ improvements over the past couple of years do provide food for thought: Doak is already performing at a high level and has not even bid farewell to his teenage years.

But Jones’ good fortunes have been a product of hard work and tenacity, overcoming obstacles to play a key part in Slot’s system this year.

Pundit Micah Richards praised the Liverpool star’s “extraordinary” England debut in November after he earned the call-up due to his presence in Slot’s team. Jones has featured 22 times this season, scoring five goals, adding three assists and starting nine times in the Premier League.

His intelligence off the ball is astounding, shifting through the lines to latch onto Trent’s exquisite postage, Salah’s sublime through ball, underlines his happy marriage in this newlook Liverpool team, for Slot is a pedant in the best sense of the word, driven toward fine-tuning tactical wiring to ensure that Liverpool stay ahead of the curve.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 1% of Premier League central midfielders this season for pass completion, the top 2% for passes attempted, the top 11% for progressive passes and the top 14% for tackles per 90, perfectly illustrating his passing prowess and the security that he provides.

It’s no surprise that Jones’ market value has risen exponentially over the past few years, with Transfermarkt recording his market value to sit at £37m. Only in March 2023, Jones’s reported price tag totalled £14m.

Doak might be worth £30m, but he’s not yet eclipsed Jones, and if Liverpool were to cash in on the latter this year, you can be sure that Richard Hughes would balk at that £37m, demand much more.

Jones has so much scope for growth and has actually proven under Slot’s wing this season that he can adopt clinical patterns and weave them into the fabric of his mechanics.

Liverpool’s Dutch coach has inherited a brilliant team. Though fans generally wouldn’t put Jones in the top bracket, he’s proving that Alexander-Arnold doesn’t stand alone as Anfield’s academy superstar, with his best days still, perhaps, to come.

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