22-year-old Liverpool midfielder claims he’s ready to play at centre-back for Jurgen Klopp

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Curtis Jones has claimed that he’d be happy to play in defence if it meant getting game time for Liverpool.

Jones’ stock has risen recently after an impressive few months. After getting a run of games for Liverpool at the back end of last season, the 22-year-old went on to star for England as they won this summer’s U21 Euros.

Now back with the Reds, Jones has told liverpoolfc.com that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep getting in the team.

“I’m a kid who just wants to go and play, I wouldn’t care if I was a right-back or a centre-half. I just want to go and play,” says the Scouser.

“I adapted well, I did well [at the end of last season]. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to play in the team.

“With the team we have now, there’s going to be times when I might have to change roles a little bit to get game time. I’ve shown that I can play in a deeper role as well, so it will help me.”

Jones happy to play wherever

Although Jones claims he has, we’ve never really seen him playing in a deeper role for Liverpool.

But if the Reds aren’t successful in their hunt for a Fabinho replacement over the next few weeks, then perhaps there’s something in this.

One of Jones’ best qualities is his ability to win the ball back high up the pitch. Now, that’s slightly different from a defensive midfielder’s job of winning the ball back in the area of the field you’re defending, but the principle is the same: get the ball.

More often than not, when Jones goes in for a tackle, he wins the ball.

He’s also very good at deciding where to play the ball when he does get it. Technically excellent, it isn’t too much of a stretch to see him playing the kind of pitch-splitting passes he’s capable of from a deeper position.

Jones is a tall, physical player who stands up well in one-on-one battles, too. Maybe there really could be something in this.

Of course, we’re not advocating that Liverpool stay out of the market and rely on their academy graduate to retrain. But if the right solution really can’t be found, perhaps they do have an answer in house. It’s set to be a big season for Curtis, you get the feeling he could end up being key.