Liverpool\u2019s determination to maintain a Scouser in the first-team squad was a clear factor in the club\u2019s blunt rejection of Inter\u2019s interest in Curtis Jones that emerged during the January window. The Toxteth-born midfielder is the only senior professional in the squad from the city following Trent Alexander-Arnold\u2019s sale to Real Madrid last summer. With less than 18 months remaining on his contract and playing time still in question, the club\u2019s civic tradition is under strain.<\/p>\n
The club prizes homegrown talent. Research from the extensive archives of LFC History found that at least one player from Merseyside has featured in a first-team squad in every single season of the club\u2019s existence since it was founded in 1892. Historically, as many as four Scousers started Liverpool\u2019s three European Cup final triumphs of 1977, 1978 and 1981, and Bob Paisley called upon an average of 10 homegrown talents per season during his trophy-laden reign in the 1980s. The current low of just one homegrown player in the squad has not been seen since 2013\u201314.<\/p>\n
Fans\u2019 civic sentiment is long established and sometimes political. Files released in 2011 showed Sir Geoffrey Howe urged Margaret Thatcher\u2019s government to abandon Liverpool to \u201cmanaged decline.\u201d That legacy helps explain the famous flag that reads: \u201cWe\u2019re not English, we\u2019re Scouse.\u201d Having \u201ca Scouser in the team\u201d matters to supporters and, evidently, to the club\u2019s response to transfer approaches.<\/p>\n
On the field, Jones\u2019s form has swung between promise and limited minutes. The 25-year-old welcomed his first child and produced a standout performance in a 2\u20131 win over Chelsea, man-marking Cole Palmer and both scoring and assisting. He was called up for England in November 2024 and marked his debut with a goal against Greece. Thomas Tuchel picked Jones next to Declan Rice in his first match as England manager, a 2\u20130 win over Albania last March, yet Jones has not started in midfield for his country in the 11 months since.<\/p>\n
Jones played four consecutive full Premier League matches for Liverpool in December before Alexis Mac Allister returned to fitness and displaced him. Slot was candid: \u201cIn that line, we have a lot of players,\u201d Slot acknowledged this week. Season-by-season figures show his available league minutes played rose to 50.1% in 2024\u201325 and 50.8% in 2025\u201326, but competition for midfield places remains intense as Liverpool balance identity and results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool’s insistence on a Scouser in the squad shaped their handling of interest in Jones. Indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,1163],"tags":[1446,1305,1304],"class_list":["post-6635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-transfers","tag-academy","tag-bench-selection","tag-benching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}