Arne Slot gives hilarious reason why Curtis Jones has improved for Liverpool

Arne Slot joked that Curtis Jones’ current form is down to the fact he has recently become a father following his star run for Liverpool.

Jones, 23, has realised his potential across the past year but there is no doubting that his recent performances have been a level above anything we’ve seen across his career thus far. As a result, he’s earned a call-up to the national squad under Lee Carsley.

The ex-Everton midfielder was full of praise for the midfielder at the announcement of his England squad on Thursday, claiming he is ‘one of the best’ he has worked with. “He’s a player that I highly rate; he’s one of the best players I’ve worked with in terms of his ability. I think he’s shown a consistent level and he’s showed he can score goals and assists and we’ve had a lot of success together in the past and I’m looking forward to working with him again.”

Jones has captured the attacking midfield role from Dominik Szoboszlai in recent weeks and his expert pass to find Luis Diaz for the opening goal in the midweek win over Bayer Leverkusen is a clear reason as to why he is currently in the side. The ability to make the difference in the final third is a new trait for him - and it has helped him to level up.

Slot was quizzed over Jones’ recent form but he was quick to joke that the birth of his first child is the secret behind his recent success as he earned more adulatory comments. "With Curtis maybe it is not me who improved him, he became a father... and I had nothing to do with that! You never know if that plays a part or not. Since the moment he became a father he has started putting great performances in.

"He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has the ball he's never afraid to do something special with it. Sometimes touches the ball too much and is a little overconfident"

Having developed through the academy, scored *that* goal against Everton in the FA Cup, bided his time on the periphery and now admirably grown into a reliable and important starting midfielder for the team, it is certainly a significant success story. His talent was always there - Steven Gerrard famously claimed that Jones was more talented than him - and now he’s proving everyone wrong and earning fan acclaim in the process.