Curtis Jones 'ready to become heartbeat' of Arne Slot's Liverpool as Steven Gerrard heaps praise on Scouse hero

Jones has begun to develop into a standout midfielder under Slot at Anfield, making 13 appearances in all competitions, and impressing at international level. The 23-year-old scored and assisted in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Chelsea, and netted a brilliant back-heel on international duty against Greece to mark his England debut with a goal. He also played against the Republic of Ireland, and Gerrard believes that he is now at a level where he can dictate play for the Anfield giants.

Of course, the former captain became an icon on Merseyside for his all-action midfield displays, captaining the Reds to their miraculous 2005 Champions League win, and becoming one of the finest midfielders the Premier League has ever seen in the process. His endorsement is likely to mean a lot to Jones, who grew up in Toxteth and has been with the club since the age of nine.

Per The Times, Gerrard, who is now managing Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, said: “I have just known all along that with the right guidance and support he can become that Scouse heartbeat of the team. And I think he is ready to be that heartbeat now.”

Gerrard and Jones worked together when the former was a youth coach in 2017/18. He added: “He was a typical young kid coming through. Very technically gifted, very skilful, tight control. He could run, he still had a bit of growth to come. The academy staff did an incredible job before I came along but they had some challenges. That’s not unusual. We were all the same. You are a bit cheeky every now and again; some days you think you are better than you are. We did have some really honest conversations. I said: ‘Listen, with the talent you have, if you don’t get to where we all think you can get to, you will have wasted it. If you can put everything else around that talent, the professionalism you need off the pitch, you can do very well’.

“The key thing for me with all the kids of that age is have they got that hunger and that drive? Are they prepared to make sacrifices in order to be consistent? The kid was never going to fail technically, he was never going to fail from a physical point of view because all his numbers were always sky high. We knew he was going to get a little taller and stronger so the profile was there. It was always just: ‘Do you want this?'"

Liverpool play Southampton on Sunday as the Premier League returns. Then, they will take on Real Madrid in the Champions League in a stern test of Jones' recent form.