**Arne Slot has revealed Liverpool’s stance on Curtis Jones’ future.**
Jones entered the final 18 months of his existing contract at Anfield during the January window and emerged as a surprise candidate to join Inter Milan.
Although talks did not progress, the midfielder finds himself behind Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch in the Reds’ engine room.
But Slot insists that the Premier League champions had no intention of allowing Jones to leave due to the currently dearth of outfield options available to him.
“He’s played a lot of minutes – not all of them,” said the Liverpool head coach.
“I think he’s also unlucky in the sense that it’s probably the only line where we haven’t had injuries, but still he’s played a lot of minutes.
“That’s of course why we kept him as well, because we have in that line a lot of players, but we need these midfielders in different positions as well!
“And the moment you start to need midfielders in different positions then the line in midfield gets smaller and smaller.
“His situation hasn’t changed, to us. He’s one of the 16 outfield players we have available for the long term now, and also this moment in time with two really young players in Trey \[Nyoni\] and Rio \[Ngumoha\] included.
“It would be a bit strange if we would let anyone go if you only have 16 available.”