Why Swansea City should complete a loan move for Curtis Jones in January

According to Goal (h/t Leeds Live), Swansea City have been linked with a January loan move for Liverpool academy graduate Curtis Jones, who is expected to secure a temporary move away from Anfield during the mid-season trading period. 

The Swans will face stiff competition from Championship promotion rivals Leeds United in their pursuit of the 18-year-old midfielder, who made his Premier League debut for Liverpool against Bournemouth earlier in December. (Goal h/t Leeds Live)

Born in Liverpool, Jones caught the eye with his rapid progress across various age-group levels at his boyhood club before being promoted to the U23 set-up back in January 2018. The midfielder signed his first professional contract back in February 2018 and made his senior bow for the Reds in an FA Cup tie against Wolves earlier in the year.

The 18-year-old impressed with a Man-of-the-Match display in a 2-0 victory over MK Dons in the EFL Cup and also scored in the penalty-shootout as Liverpool overcame Arsenal in the next round of the competition. 

Besides featuring occasionally in the first-team squad, Curtis Jones has racked up some overly impressive numbers for Neil Critchley’s U23 side. The 18-year-old has plundered 8 goals and 4 assists in 12 Premier League 2 outings while also delivering 5 goals in 4 games in the UEFA Youth League. 

As per the report, Liverpool have now opened the door for the talented teenager to seek a loan exit in January with the hope of gaining more first-team exposure at a lower level.

Meanwhile, Swansea City put an end to their six-game winless streak in the Championship with back-to-back wins, climbing up to 7th in the standings.

The Swans might no longer be in the race for automatic promotion but they are still in the hunt for a top-six finish. To that end, Steve Cooper must bring in a few fresh faces during the mid-season trading period in January.

A tally of 30 goals scored in 23 games so far means that Swansea have been comfortably outscored by most of their promotion rivals. Andre Ayew continues to be the star man up top but the Swans will need others, especially those in the middle of the park, to chip in with some significant goal contributions in the second half of the campaign.

To put things into perspective, Curtis Jones might not have much professional experience under his belt but his impressive tally, both in terms of goals and assists, at the U23 level this season makes for some incredible readings on paper. 

The regular central midfield pivot of Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton in Cooper’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system has provided a lot of stability to the team in the middle of the park. Both the players have looked comfortable in dictating the tempo of the game while spraying passes all over the park to initiate attacks. 

However, they have left a lot to desire with their goal contributions further up the pitch, with Grimes yet to score and Fulton finding the net only once. 

Tom Carroll is a natural goalscoring midfielder but Cooper just hasn’t shown enough trust in his abilitie, whilst the likes of George Byers and Bersant Celina have lacked enough end product in their game in an advanced role.

Verdict

Profiled by Liverpool Echo as an energetic and dynamic central midfielder, who is capable of dictating the play from a deeper role and also influencing the game further up the pitch, Jones might be the man to answer Swansea’s prayers for a much-needed X-Factor in the middle of the park.

Furthermore, Cooper is right up there with the best in the country when it comes to extracting the best out of young players.

More Swansea City News

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• 3 key areas that Swansea City should look to reinforce in January

Having said that, Swansea City beating Leeds United in the race to sign the Liverpool prodigy could pay off handsomely in their surge for promotion.