Curtis Jones' departure to FC Internazionale has raised some serious questions about the club's transfer window by some fans as the midfield becomes very thin.
A £30 million transfer fee seems ridiculous for a player who's spent most of his life at the club as a fan, with no replacement lined up.
Whilst some fans lost patience with Curtis Jones feeling he was inconsistent, many are disappointed by the fact the club let him go so easily.
What do Liverpool lose selling Jones?
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Not only do Liverpool let go of one of the club's most technically gifted players of the last 5 years, but they also lose a born-and raised-scouser.
Which means for the first time in the club's history, Jones' departure leaves them without a scouser in the team.
To many, not only does the club lose its identity without a scouser, but it could mean a cut-off pathway for many kids in the Merseyside region to be able to reach the first team and play for their boyhood club in the future.
The city of Liverpool has always had a top-level scouser in the team, whether that was Steve McManaman (born in Bootle) in the 90's, Steven Gerrard (born in Knowsley) in the 2000's, or Trent Alexander-Arnold (West Derby) and Curtis Jones (Toxteth) in the 2010's and 2020's.
To see that disappear going into this season is disappointing.
For a player who gave absolutely everything for the club, a player who wanted to be captain, and a player who was regarded by Steven Gerard as "more talented than me in terms of technical ability, in terms of dribbling ability, in terms of manipulating the ball, close control," it is disappointing to see the club not step in the way to retain his services.
**The transfer fee**
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A lot of fans can see why the club would offload Jones, but for the fee they accepted, many are still baffled.
£30 million is less than a third of the fee Manchester City paid for Elliot Anderson, a third of the price of Bruno Guimares and Sandro Tonali to Arsenal and Spurs, respectively, and less than half of what Liverpool paid for Jeremy Jacquet.
For a player who is way closer in ability than the transfer fee suggests, it is disappointing the club did not try to hold out for nearer £45-£50 million.
**Who in the squad will cover Curtis Jones' abilities?**
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With a squad of now six midfielders (including academy star Trey Nyoni and defensive cover Wataru Endo), it seems as if there will be more of a demand of the current midfielders to play.
After Iraola's pre-season, it feels as if that Trey Nyoni will be brought into the Curtis Jones role.
Whilst Jones' best attributes are going forwards, Iraola seems to be confident in using other players in higher roles and allowing England youth international Nyoni to be the primary holding midfield cover in the role Ryan Gravenberch will be playing.
Gravenberch's traits see him best fit both box-to-box and holding midfield roles, but if Trey Nyoni is trusted by Iraola, the Spaniard may look to allow Gravenberch further forwards to allow Nyoni to sit in if other midfielders are first to come off for Nyoni.
FSG will see Nyoni as the economically beneficial option, with the pure £30 million profit from Jones being funds to coup the likes of Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye, who have been heavily linked with moves to Merseyside for weeks.
With Macallister and Nyoni as the rotation options, it feels like Iraola's biggest problems don't lie in the midfield, and after seeing Curtis Jones in pre-season, he was not keen on fighting to retain him for the season.
The benefits of Curtis Jones' departure
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As briefly mentioned previously, the 25-year-old has been at the club's academy since he was nine years old.
This means the sale goes down as pure profit in the financial books, helping to coup up more money for the promised signings Iraola mentioned in the pre-match press conference for Newcastle on Sunday.
With such a thin squad, he was one of three options to sell for substantial funds this summer, with the other options being Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister, who have had rumours of departing the club this summer.
Now that he has been sold, it means the high asking fee for both Barcola and Mbaye becomes more realistic, allowing the Reds to fill the attacking vacancies at the top of their priority list.
Were the club right to sell Curtis Jones?
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At the point of writing this article, it feels as if this move is silly.
For reasons beyond the football pitch, it seems silly to add to the workload that the midfield will have by cashing in on Jones.
However, for the pursuit of what will be deemed as more important attacking options, I see the club's viewpoint on this sale.
I think the squad and fans alike will miss Curtis Jones: the last Scouser of the team.
Passion, strength and technical brilliance; Curtis Jones is a proper midfielder who Internazionale are very lucky to have.