Curtis Jones Scout Report At Liverpool 2026/2027: Should Iraola Keep The Local Lad? – Player Analysis

Who Is Curtis Jones?

Curtis Jones presents an interesting case for Liverpool.

For many fans, it's key to keep him around.

He is, after Trent Alexander-Arnold's controversial free transfer in 2025, the sole "Scouser in the team".

He is the connection for lots of fans, a local boy playing for his club.

The passion that comes through in Jones's interviews and his performance on the pitch is obvious.

For others, and if you believe the rumours around the club, he is a sellable asset of pure profit in the Financial Fair Play era.

With 12 months to go on his current contract, the issue is becoming increasingly pressing.

For transparency, I am a Liverpool fan.

I am also a huge Curtis Jones fan, and I would absolutely love him to stay at the club for the rest of his career.

For the benefit of this article, I will be as balanced as possible, taking into consideration both his strengths and weaknesses.

Last season was a struggle for Jones and the club in general.

Arne Slot followed up his league-winning season with a disappointing campaign, resulting in his sacking.

Andoni Iraola was the man chosen to replace the Dutchman.

Iraola has already said how much he likes the midfielder, saying in his opening press conference: "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."

This Curtis Jones scout report and player analysis will look at Jones' 2025/2026 season, what he could offer Iraola's new iteration of the side and why the club might potentially sanction a sale.

Curtis Jones Positioning In Liverpool Tactics

Slot used a 4-2-3-1 for the majority of last season.

The aim of the side was to build on the title-winning team, which revolved around maximising Mohamed Salah's attacking output.

Things didn't work out that way.

The major signings struggled with injuries and fitting into the system.

Liverpool also lost all their senior right-backs (which played a huge part in Jones' season).

The side looked to build up through central areas, getting the ball into the double pivot.

They would then look to get the ball into the feet of Florian Wirtz or Salah, and push the full-backs as high as possible.

They wanted to play quick, transitional football.

Slot, though, struggled to adapt when most teams sat in a block against them, and they also struggled with the physicality, often getting easily turned over and exposed by man-to-man pressing systems.

Jones ranked 11th in the Liverpool squad for minutes played last season, yet he wasn't a fixture in the team.

While predominantly a central midfielder, he was often seen filling in at right-back due to the injuries and struggles of Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong.

Of his 28 starts, seven were at full-back.

His 2025/2026 season heat map demonstrates that he was often tasked with covering wider areas of the pitch.

Curtis Jones Heat Map 2025/2026

Curtis Jones Style Of Play In Possession

Jones' biggest draw is what he can do with the ball at his feet.

At his very best, he's able to dictate the pace of play and move the ball through midfield and defences with his carrying.

Jones is extremely forward-thinking with his actions.

He likes to pick the ball up deep and drive with it.

One of the best examples of his forward-thinking nature is evidenced in his goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers back in March.

Jones is playing as a right-back, up against Wolves' deep block.

He wins the ball back, stopping a Wolves counter.

Cody Gakpo then flicks it back into his path.

Jones immediately drives towards the opposition box, moving the ball swiftly past one defender, shifting the ball cleanly from his right to left foot.

He then releases a shot with his weak foot into the far bottom corner.

Jones is a one-man carrying machine.

He ranks in the 95th percentile for deep progressions, the 93rd percentile for progressive actions and the 96th percentile for final third entries, per Scout Lab.

This is where Jones would be most valuable in an Iraola team.

The Basque manager loves his team to be direct, and he loves a player who can carry the ball effectively up the pitch.

Jones is exactly that.

Think of Alex Scott in his Bournemouth team; Liverpool's No. 17 has the potential to be that and more in that sense.

In terms of attacking output, Jones scores highly in the underlying numbers per 90, but his actual output could be improved.

His three goals (one of which was the above) and three assists last season came from an expected goals of 2.77 and expected assists of 2.79.

Curtis Jones Shot Map 2025/2026

Above, we have Jones' shot map for the Premier League last season.

As you can see, he doesn't tend to get into high-quality shooting areas (bar the odd occasion), and his shots tend to be from low-value positions.

Jones has shown promise at times at being a box crasher, knowing when to make those third man runs into the box, but he's yet to be consistent with it.

Curtis Jones Style Of Play Out Of Possession

While he might not be known for it, Jones is an extremely smart out of possession player.

He can defend both central and wide spaces pretty well (he was, for a time, a left winger in Liverpool's academy and is now being asked to fill in at full-back).