By the time Liverpool play their next match, Curtis Jones will have turned 21 years old. A coming-of-age marker doesn’t really seem to exist in English football anymore; gone are U21 leagues, several top-flight players have needed to wait until 22 or 23 for their chance, more coaches subscribe to the “good enough, old enough” mantra. But still, no longer being a literal under-21 effectively marks the transition from youngster to senior player, be it as a superstar-in-waiting or squad-filler option.
For a player who recently had his manager claim to be his “biggest fan”, it’s perhaps an even bigger milestone than usual: Jones has had some incredible highs with the Reds, but also some fairly significant spells out of the side.
