Steven Gerrard names star’more talented’than him as Liverpool knows one part of evolution

Liverpool needs to buy at least two midfielders in the summer but the form of one young talent has caught the eye of Steven Gerrard over the past couple of months ahead of a crucial period of change.

Jürgen Klopp knows that the center of the pitch is going to be important to reshape and get right, but also that Curtis Jones could have a big part to play next season in his current form.

Having struggled for consistency until this latest period — largely thanks to a series of injuries — Jones has come to life in a more attacking role lately and has strung together his best run as a senior Liverpool player.

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Gerrard, who played his part in developing Jones when he was in charge of Liverpool’s U18s team at the start of his coaching career, has been left very impressed with the 22-year-old — though he is not surprised.

“Curtis is more talented than me in terms of technique, in terms of dribbling ability, in terms of manipulating the ball, and close control,” Gerrard told The Anfield Wrap.

“He’s a different type of player to me, in that I was more of a runner, a passer. Curtis is more of an individual — a soloist, if you like. But I love watching him when he’s in the form he’s in now. He can go as far as he wants to go in terms of what he has got.

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“He’s got the profile, the physical capacity, the technical ability, the attitude and the mentality. He has got all the tools. He should be thinking ‘I want to become one of Liverpool’s best players’.”

Liverpool.com says: Jones has the ability to be the perfect player in the more advanced number eight role that Liverpool is currently using. His quality has never been in doubt but his availability has.

If Jones has got over his injury troubles and can stay fit for a full season, there is no reason that with the more attacking license he is now being afforded, he cannot get around 10 goals.

That would be a hugely advantageous evolution in the Liverpool midfield area and make things a lot easier heading into next season, though it does not negate the need for transfers.

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp previews the Southampton game

Liverpool will consider letting Fabio Carvalho leave the club this summer after Jurgen Klopp admitted the young midfielder had struggled to make an impact this season.

Carvalho joined Liverpool in a £7million transfer from Fulham in May 2022 after helping the Cottagers achieve promotion from the Championship. He arrived with a big reputation following an outstanding 2021/22 campaign in which he contributed 10 goals and eight assists in 36 Championship games.

But things have not gone to plan for the 20-year-old attacking midfielder, who has started just eight times this season – with only two of those coming since the World Cup break. Klopp has opened up on Carvalho’s difficulties this season and explained what the future holds.

“I think there is a possibility that maybe Fabio will go on loan or whatever. We will see,” he said on Friday, in a press conference before the final game of the season, against Southampton on Sunday. “The thing is, this was not Fabio’s best year of his career, clearly, in a very young career, but it might have been his most important.

“No player has impressed me more than Fabio, that’s the truth. Because this kind of very talented boy came here with big dreams and big expectations, it was OK in the beginning but didn’t work out in the end.

“His work ethic will give him a fantastic career. He trained while getting nothing. For players, there’s only one present you have each week: you line me up, if not that then take me in the squad. That’s my only chance to satisfy a player.

Jurgen Klopp admitted Fabio Carvalho might leave Liverpool

STEVE BARDENS/AFP via Getty Images)

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“If I don’t do that, it’s about how the player reacts – and his reactions, in a row, I never saw it before. Unbelievable. I’m not sure if he goes on loan or whatever, if we keep him, we will see.”

Carvalho made a promising start to the 2022/23 season, scoring against Bournemouth and Newcastle in August. But his involvement has decreased as the campaign has wore on, with the midfielder being stuck on the bench and often not even included in the squad.

Speaking in February after Carvalho was left out of the squad, Klopp made similar comments. “Fabio is a very young player, big talent, absolutely,” he said. “He played well for us in a couple of games. Now it’s the situation where we have to make the squad and he couldn’t make it for the last one. That’s how it is, that’s the truth.

“He didn’t play too often because, from my point of view, we needed different skills when we started or when we changed during the games.

“That’s pretty much all, he did nothing wrong. He improved a lot, he developed a lot, he’s a good kid in the middle of the group, in the middle of the squad.”