Whilst Liverpool still have a top five finish, the FA Cup, and the Champions League to play for, Arne Slot may already have one eye on the upcoming summer transfer window.
Last month, it was reported that the Reds are in talks over a possible deal to sign Adam Wharton from Crystal Palace to bolster the club's options in the middle of the park.
The England international is said to be valued at around £82m by the Eagles ahead of the summer, but it remains to be seen whether or not Liverpool are prepared to pay that price.
Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton reacts after being sent off
Wharton has the highest percentage of passes that are considered line-breaking passes (22.6%) in the entire Premier League, ahead of the likes of Rodri, Andrey Santos, and Bruno Guimaraes.
Interestingly, though, Curtis Jones ranks ninth in the league for line-breaking passes made per 90 (6.81), below Wharton's 7.05, and the Palace star could come in to take his place in the side.
Why Curtis Jones has suffered from a lack of minutes
Despite his ability to make line-breaking passes at an exceptional rate, the Liverpool academy graduate has only started 11 of his 25 appearances in the Premier League so far this season.
Curtis Jones
That could be because the rest of his game is not at a high enough level to justify making him a regular starter for a team that wants to compete for the biggest trophies each season.
In the Premier League this season, Jones has lost 51% of his overall duels and only provided one goal contribution in 25 appearances, which shows that he has not been outstanding defensively or offensively.
25/26 PL Jones Wharton
Appearances 25 26
Big chances created 3 11
Assists 1 5
Tackles made per game 1.0 2.3
Interceptions per game 0.3 0.9
Duels won per game 2.7 4.5
Aerial duel success rate 28% 47%
Wharton offers far more to Palace than just line-breaking passes in the middle of the park. The left-footed star wins plenty of tackles and duels to help his team out defensively, whilst also being an outstanding creative force.
Jones needs to add more strings to his bow to make it impossible for Slot to leave him out of the team, because there is not enough substance to his play at the moment, despite scoring against Wolves in the FA Cup on Friday night.
Liverpool academy star could be the end of Curtis Jones
Instead of paying the best part of £100m to sign Wharton from Crystal Palace in the summer transfer window, Slot could end Jones' career at Anfield by unleashing an academy teenager in his place.
Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai for Liverpool
17-year-old starlet Haydn Murray-Holme is currently shining for Liverpool's U18s at academy level and could be a future first-team star if the Dutch head coach provides him with a pathway.
Given that the likes of Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni have been involved in the first-team this season, the teenage midfielder will get an opportunity to showcase his quality if Slot believes that he is good enough to be in the squad.
Liverpool star Rio Ngumoha
Murray-Holme has the potential to be Slot's own version of Wharton in midfield, and could come through to offer more to the side with his all-round play than Jones is currently offering in the first-team.
Analyst Bence Bocsak described the 17-year-old star as "one of the best line-breaking midfielders in the U18 Premier League this season" and claimed that the English gem reminds him of Wharton.Like the Palace star, Murray-Holme offers more than just line-breaking passes to his team. The teenage star has provided one goal and six assists in 19 appearances in the U18 Premier League this term.
|Most assists in 25/26 U18 Premier League|
|Player (club)|Assists|
|---|
|Sam Pinnington (Newcastle)|6|
|Jack McGrath (Villa)|6|
|Indiana Pedder (Ipswich)|6|
|Charlie Stewart (Everton)|6|
|Tyrone Samba (Man City)|6|
|Haydn Murray-Holme (Liverpool)|5|
|Finn Inglethorpe (Liverpool)|5|
Only five players have assisted more goals in the competition than the Liverpool youngster, and he is the only defensive midfielder or defender in the top 23 players with the most assists in the division.
This suggests that he has the potential to offer more creative quality than Jones is currently offering in the Premier League, given that the England international has only delivered one assist and no goals in 25 games this season.
Murray-Holme has the line-breaking passing ability and the creative quality to be a Wharton-esque figure for Liverpool in the middle of the park if he can make the step up to the first-team.
It is now up to Slot to provide the youngster with an opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the squad, and that could allow the teenage star to end Jones' career at Anfield because he could take even more of his minutes away by playing ahead of him next term.
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