They were supposed to be the players to help guide Liverpool towards their next era. But, for Curtis Jones, it hasn't happened that way.
"We are in the transformation," said Reds boss Jurgen Klopp. "We have Harvey and Curtis. After the last game I had both together and said to them ‘this is only the start’. And they were like ‘yes, with us on the pitch’. It’s really nice. To have these boys around for this transition is important.”
Klopp was speaking last May after a much-changed Liverpool had sent the title battle into the final weekend with a hard-earned 2-1 win at Southampton, a game in which Jones and Harvey Elliott started a Premier League game together for the first time.
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But rather than assist in what has been a difficult ongoing process, the duo have since lined up in the same Liverpool team for a top-flight game just once.
Indeed, the 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in October also represents the only Premier League start this season for Jones, and even that was as a last-minute replacement in midfield for the absent Thiago Alcantara. Elliott, by contrast, has played some part in every game this campaign.
Of course, Jones hasn't been helped by a stress reaction of the tibia suffered after the Community Shield in July that was later aggravated and ensured he didn't play again for more than 10 weeks. The Academy graduate was then again absent either side of the break for the World Cup. Factor in limited opportunities in the second half of last season, and Jones has started only eight games in the last 12 months. That game at Southampton is his only full 90 minutes in that time.
And although Liverpool have struggled to find the right blend in midfield and attack, Jones has still been unable to force his way into the starting line-up since the turn of the year, featuring for just 50 minutes across four substitute appearances. While the injury and subsequent troublesome recovery have required patience from both the player and the club, Jones has now been fit enough for involvement in six of the last seven matchday squads.
"For me personally, at the beginning of the season I was talking about goals and assists," he says. "Now I'm at the point where I want to stay fit, I want to play as many games as I can and I want to impact the team as much as I can.
"If I can be involved in all the games, or if I can at least be fit to be available for all the games, then that's the first thing, but I'd also like to get goals and assists. I just want to be the best that I can be."
Having turned 22 last week, Jones can no longer be considered a youngster. He has made 85 appearances for the Reds, and that Liverpool still believe in his potential was demonstrated by a new contract signed in November that has extended the player's commitment to 2027.
However, it has been more than three years since the calling card of his memorable FA Cup winner at home to Everton, who are the visitors to Anfield on Monday. It is time for Jones to kick on.
"I'm a whole different lad," he says of the change since his debut in January 2019. "I'm older, I'm way more experienced and I've been on an up and down run in those four years. I would say learning the whole of the game has been the big thing.
"It's not as easy as you pick up the ball and you go and score your goals, as I was doing in the under-18s and under-23s. It's not as easy as that because you can't take too many touches. So I've learned how to mix up my game.
"If I'm playing out on the left I take it back to the old me where I'm direct and can pick up the ball and go, but if I'm playing as a centre-mid it's more of a balance. You've got to learn the defensive part of the game, which was difficult for me as I like to be so attacking. I'm at the point where I've been finding a balance of putting my game together."
Jones, speaking to the Walk On emagazine, adds of Liverpool's season: "There was going to be a time when there was a little bit of a change, which is where we're at now. There are players that have left, there are players that are coming in, there are players that are injured. So the balance isn't there yet, but with the team we've got and the manager and the staff we have, we'll be fine."
Now Jones will hope he can be given the opportunity to prove Klopp's assertion correct and be part of Liverpool's latest transformation.
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