You can see the stone Liver Birds on the Royal Liver Building peeking over the top of the new Hilton Hotel and, if you turn the other way, the gothic spire of Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral from the playground of Curtis Jones’ former elementary school.
We are in the L1 zip code, the core of the city and the neighborhood where Liverpool’s most accomplished homegrown attacking midfielder grew up. “I always joke with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] that I’m a real Scouser: I’m L1,” Jones says. “These are the origins of Liverpool. You are the epitome of Liverpool. I am proud to be from such a location.”
He is dropping off new footballs and catching up with his erstwhile teachers at the St. Vincent de Paul primary school. Additionally, he has paid for the new school year’s sports apparatus for the children. To give us a sense of where he is from, he chose this location for his first significant interview with a national publication.
He is the epitome of a Liverpool native, having grown up within walking distance of the Royal Albert Dock, the Cavern Club, and all the other landmarks that make the city famous besides football. As a teenager, he experienced a meteoric ascent to prominence and is now a self-assured, engaging young man. Additionally, he frequently repeats his core credo, which is that elite football is difficult and finding your position requires a great deal of dedication.
Since I was a child, there had been much chatter about me, he explains. “There have always been lofty expectations. I manage it well and am aware that it will not always be smooth sailing. I anticipate that there will be bumps and impacts. I am a child who is willing to accept the challenge. I appreciate the entire experience. I comprehend everything that has been said, both the negаtive and positive. I always go out into the world and represent myself. The position I am in now allows me to reveаl my true self. I am just attempting to reach a point where I am participating in all games and maintaining consistency. More goals scored and assists provided.”
He had a fearsome finish to the previous season when he tallied three goals in 12 consecutive games. Then, in the summer, he was a key figure in England’s victory in the European Under-21 Championship, the country’s first at that level since 1984. He made his debut for Liverpool when he was 17 years old. At age 18, he struck the game-winning goal in a Merseyside derby. However, he has also been injured, and at the age of 22, he believes it is time to demonstrate the world what he is capable of.
“Yeah, all of that is good, but I want more,” he says. “I have always known [as a junior international] that I am superior to them [other European sides] when I competed against them as a younger player. Now you are discussing the Euros, where the finest players between the ages of 18 and 22 compete. Without attempting to sound arrogant, I’ve always known I was above this level. I relished the Under-21s, and our [England] team consisted of first-team players for their respective clubs. But now I want to be in the Champions League and World Cup finals and win the Premier League. I see myself functioning at that level.”
His school team mentor, Ian Hastie, reminds him that he was a Liverpool prodigy from a young age, as he was discovered by the club at age six. In the Liverpool academy, he was forced to compete with older boys. “I had always been a successful child,” he says. People on the outside thought, ‘Oh, he’s 15 and now he’s playing for the Under-16s. Now he plays for the Under-18 team. He is coached by [Steven] Gerrard. When I joined the first team, I was not concealed, but there was less conversation.
In other words, his meteoric rise slowed as he adapted to securing a spot on a Jurgen Klopp team that quickly won the European and Premier League titles.
“I used the pressure that came with it to improve myself. I worked out more in the gym. I ran. I knew I could demonstrate everyone who I was on the field. They had not seen me play as a child. I would tell everyone, “Oh yeah, I scored [in training],” but they eventually stopped believing me. They simply knew I was a member of the first team. Everyone probably thought, “He can’t be that good because he doesn’t play games.” This was always in the back of my mind. I was aware of what I needed to do to play more games.
We have swiftly arrived at the topic of being a Scouser in a Liverpool team, and not just any team – the club’s best in 30 years. It carries with it a distinct burden. Liverpool could be considered both the most recognizable global brand in football and the most intensely local club. Every fan in the city feels as though they have a stake in the outcome, and the native-born player can serve as the conductor for this. Jones is two appearances away from 100 with the first team. He and Alexander-Arnold are the first homegrown players since Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and Michael Owen to reach this milestone.
As Klopp himself has stated in the past, “people fаncy big transfers” and there is a perception that there is always a better option than an academy player. Jones was one of six English athletes and two Liverpool natives named to Uefa’s Euros tournament team this summer. Is there a Spanish, German, or Italian peer who surpasses him?
He is philosophical as opposed to resentful regarding this duress. “I feel it as well,” he declares. “I won’t sаy [we are] to blame, but as a local boy, I sometimes get the sense that ‘He’s not good enough, we need to bring in someone else’. I am unable to alter my current circumstance. I am not averse to it. I welcome the challenge. If anyone doubts me, they will only witness more of me. It’s not that I’m out to disprove their beliefs. “The most important thing I do is to prove myself correct.”
Nonetheless, he is acutely aware that he is, in his words, “living the dream.” Peter Allen, his former physical education instructor, has a season ticket in the Centenary Stand at Anfield and enjoys watching his former student play. Mel Wenton, Jones’s former teaching assistant, reminds him that she still has recordings of him singing in school assemblies. It is gratifying to hear them discuss how an inner-city school, despite often difficult circumstances, launched the career of a professional football player.
Due to the unanticipated departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, Liverpool has undergone significant transformation since the previous season. Jones views himself as a No. 8 in the most traditional sense – an оffensive, disruptive midfielder. Even with three new signings and Ryan Gravenberch’s impending arrival from Bayern Munich, there is no doubt that the midfield is currently up for grabs.
“Things can always change,” he says, “but I feel like there is more of a divide [on the team]. I support myself. I could be competing with five or ten me𝚗, and my mentаl preparation would remain the same. I train with them frequently. I observe them playing. I understand what they have to offer, but I also understand how much I have to offer, and I still have time. I must be the greatest in my current position. I must continually demonstrate that I am competent enough to keep my uniform.”
The impact of some incidental injuries on him has been grossly underestimated. After the Community Shield, clinicians diagnosed him with what they termed a “strеss response” in the ankle and shin region of his right leg. If he had continued playing, the ιnjury would have become a fracture and then a break. Jones describes the incident as “strange” because there were times when he felt he could play, but when the scan was examined, he was unable to. “All I want to do is perform. I am fine with any type of discomfort; I will perform. So long as I know it won’t lead to something larger.”
A finger inadvertently tҺrust into his eye during training in November 2021 caused severe damage and necessitated careful treatment that restricted him to stretching for weeks in order to safeguard the healing process. During the first week of training for the current season, he slid in for a block and had a ball Һit his foot so forcefully that the ankle was extended. He is now fit and eager to compete for a spot on the team.
Outside of football, he maintains close relationships with his older sibling – “we’re only 13 months apart, we’re like twins” – and his mother. Both individuals have busy lifestyles. His sibling is a carpenter, and his mother has always been a caregiver. Curtis has offered to support her, but she refuses to stop working, he says with an indifference. As a child, his mother would take him to training every day. “Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am,” he states.
He is now healthy and available to play against Aston Villa on Sunday. He already possesses a Premier League winner’s medal and a Euros medal from the summer. He tells me that he spent the same amount of time playing basketball and cricket as he did football in the schoolyard. As a youth, he taught himself basketball by watching the NBA on television, and he now claims, with a wink, that no one on the practice court can approach his skill level.
His confidence cannot be questioned. But you need it to get where he has, and it is always contingent on one guarantee: that this footballer is willing to put in the effort. “I’ve always had my mind on as a child. I am confident in my ability to make the first team of any team. Around the age of 16, however, I realized that I had a chance. That’s when a distinct version of myself emerged. I saw my objective and what I needed to do. I will continue to assert until my final game that I have more to give.”