Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana will be replaced by one of the FA Cup heroes from the win over Shrewsbury at Anfield on Tuesday night.
Curtis Jones was named skipper for the fourth round replay and impressed against the League One outfit, and that’s led Reds legend John Aldridge to claim that he could replace Adam Lallana in the squad for next season.
The Express reported that Aldridge even compared the midfielder to Trent Alexander-Arnold, and said the sky is the limit for Melwood academy graduate.
"“And you could see – very much like Trent Alexander-Arnold – the potential that the lad had. He is just a quality footballer with natural ability and a good arrogance. He knows he is good and he does things the right way.”"
Everyone is watching how Curtis Jones develops with keen interest. Alongside Jones, Neco Williams has been impressing when he’s got the opportunity during the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup and there’s no reason why he couldn’t take the reserve right-back slot off James Milner and Joe Gomez.
Lallana’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season, and while there’s been no transfer speculation about his next destination yet, you’d pretty much put the house on the former Southampton man leaving on a free.
That will free up another space in the squad, which could be taken up by returning loan player Marko Grujic. Grujic has spent two years with Hertha Berlin and gained valuable experience in the Bundesliga, and will be pushing strongly for involvement in 2020/2021.
Liverpool have got a fine conveyor belt of talent and the future looks bright among the youngsters. Aldridge believes that Jones could be the next cab off the rank.
"“This lad will save the manager a lot of money because he can step right into the squad and you can always depend on him.”"
Alongside the scouser, Harvey Elliot is also progressing nicely while Dutch duo Sepp van den Berg and Ki-Jana Hoever have looked bright in patches during their first team commitments. Could we be seeing a golden age of academy involvement?