Curtis Julian Jones (born 30 January 2001) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and the England national team. Jones joined Liverpool's academy at the age of nine before signing his first professional contract with the club in February 2018. He made his first-team debut in 2019 and was a member of Liverpool's 2019–20 Premier League winning squad. He has also represented England at youth level.

Early life

Curtis Julian Jones was born on 30 January 2001 in

, Merseyside, and grew up in the

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area w ...

area of the city. He is of Nigerian descent through a grandmother.

Club career

Early career

Jones joined

at the age of nine. After making his U23s debut in January 2018, Jones signed his first professional contract on 1 February 2018. He was named in Liverpool's squad for the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

match against Everton on 7 April and was included on the substitute bench without making an appearance. Jones featured prominently for Liverpool during pre-season ahead of the 2018–19 season. Manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing c ...

praised his mobility and dribbling skills. Jones made his first-team debut on 7 January 2019, in the

2018–19 FA Cup The 2018–19 FA Cup (also known as the Football Association Challenge Cup) was the 138th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. It started ...

third round against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

2019–20 season

Jones made his season debut and played in his second competitive match for the club on 25 September 2019 in a 2019–20 EFL Cup match against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. He was chosen as

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. He then scored the winning

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

in Liverpool's

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory against

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in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. He made his Premier League debut on 7 December, from the substitute's bench, against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. On 5 January 2020, Jones was part of a Liverpool team largely made up of teenagers and reserves that beat rivals Everton 1–0 at home in the 2019–20 FA Cup. Jones scored the winning goal – his first for the club – with a curling shot from 20 yards. At 18 years and 340 days, Jones became the youngest goalscorer in a

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is the association football, football matches between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it ...

since

Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...

scored for Liverpool in 1994. In the next round three weeks later, he opened the scoring in a 2–2 draw away to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

, becoming the first teenager to score in consecutive appearances for Liverpool since

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...

in April 2014. On 5 February 2020, Jones became Liverpool's youngest

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

– at 19 years and 5 days – when he captained Liverpool's youngest ever first-team starting line-up with an average age of 19 years and 102 days to a 1–0 home victory over Shrewsbury in an FA Cup replay. On 4 July 2020, Jones signed a new long-term contract with the club. He scored his first league goal for the club a day later after coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, latching on to

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly ( ar, محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and captains the Egypt ...

's header to score past former Liverpool goalkeeper

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...

. On 22 July, Jones came off the bench against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

for his fifth top-flight appearance in the 2019–20 season with Liverpool, thus qualifying for a Premier League winner's medal. On 30 July, Jones was named the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...

Player of the Season for 2019–20 ahead of five other nominees.

2020–2023

On 24 September 2020, Jones scored two goals in four minutes against Lincoln City away in the 2020–21 EFL Cup, and was named man of the match by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. He scored his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

goal on 1 December in a 1–0 victory over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, sealing Liverpool's progression into the knockout stages of the competition. On 28 February 2021, Jones scored his first league goal of the 2020–21 season in a 2–0 away win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Jones scored his first goal of the 2021–22 season on 25 September 2021 in a 3–3 away draw against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. On 28 September, he provided two assists and a key pass in a 5–1 away win over

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League. Liverpool narrowly missed out on the chance to achieve a historic quadruple, coming second in the

and the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League but winning both the

and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. On 17 November 2022, Jones signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool until June 2027. On 30 April 2023, Jones scored his first goal of the 2022–23 season in a 4–3 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. On 15 May 2023, Jones continued his good form as a regular starter in the first team with a quick-fire brace against relegation threatened

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in a man-of-the-match performance to guide Liverpool to a 3–0 away victory. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Liverpool narrowly missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification.

2023–present

In the 2023–24 season, Jones was a regular starter, however, a suspension and an injury occurring in October and November allowed

Ryan Gravenberch Ryan Jiro Gravenberch (born 16 May 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Netherlands national team. Club career Ajax Gravenberch joined the Ajax Youth Academy in 2010, and wo ...

to take his place for a number of games. Commenting on his recent surge of confidence, Jones stated that he was “at the point now where” he was “in the team” and where he knew what he “ adto do”. Assistant manager

Pepijn Lijnders Pepijn "Pep" Lijnders (born 24 January 1983) is a Dutch football manager. He is an assistant manager of Premier League club Liverpool. Managerial career Lijnders began his managerial career in 2002 with PSV Eindhoven, helping with youth traini ...

attributed Jones’ impressive recent return to form to his “Scouse mentality”. On 30 September, Jones was controversially sent off in a Premier League away match against

for a foul on

Yves Bissouma Yves Bissouma (born 30 August 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Tottenham Hotspur. Born in the Ivory Coast, he represents the Mali national team. Club career Early career Born in Issia, Ivory Coast, Bissou ...

. The foul was originally awarded a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

by referee Simon Hooper but was upgraded to a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

after he was shown a still image of the foul by the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

. The decision was criticised by many pundits including

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

and

Jamie Redknapp Jamie Frank Redknapp (born 25 June 1973) is an English former professional footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is a pundit at Sky Sports and an editorial sports columnist at the ''Daily Mail''. A technically skillful and creat ...

, the former of whom stated: "I think generally, he's gone in genuinely but his foot slips on top of the ball. I'm not sure, I never am nowadays, I'm less sure about football than I ever have been but I don't think he's gone in with any malice." Jones scored his first goals of the 2023–24 season in a 5–1 win over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

at the quarter-final stage of the

on 20 December 2023.

International career

Jones made his debut for the

England national under-21 team The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...

on 7 October 2020 in a 3–3 draw against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

. He scored his first goal for the under-21s during a 3–1 home win over Andorra on 13 November. Jones was a member of the squad that were eliminated at the group stage of the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

and scored in their last game against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. On 14 June 2023, Jones was included in the England squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. On 8 July 2023, Jones was credited with the winning goal in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

after Cole Palmer's free kick deflected off him into the goal. He was name the

for the final, which saw England win the tournament for the first time since 1984. His performances during the competition resulted in him being chosen by the UEFA Technical Observer panel for their team of the tournament. On 21 May 2024, Jones received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call-up as part of the 33-player preliminary squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football cham ...

. However, he was later cut from the final 26-man squad.

Style of play

Jones is regarded as a tenacious, silky and lively player, and was described as being in his best form in the second half of the 2022–23 season. He is also praised for his football IQ, ability to beat the press and create and finish goal scoring opportunities.

Career statistics

Honours

Liverpool *

: 2019–20 *

: 2021–22 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

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runner-up: 2021–22 England U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual *

Player of the Season: 2019–20 *UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Curtis 2001 births Living people People from Toxteth Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liverpool F.C. players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent