Liverpool boss Arne Slot is anxiously awaiting news of midfielder Curtis Jones after he was forced out of the club’s pre-season friendly against Real Betis.
The 23-year-old limped off with a muscle problem 30 minutes into a 1-0 win at the Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Speaking after his first game in charge of the Reds, Slot told the club’s official website: “I think it’s too early to tell (how bad it is). He maybe could have played on, but I think maybe you could see he was not at 100 per cent.
We are waiting to discover the extent of the injury that forced Curtis Jones from the pitch during the first half of our 1-0 win over Real Betis ⤵️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 27, 2024
“In a friendly game, with so many days coming up in our tour, it was best to take him off. Hopefully he can recover from (it) really fast, but we have to wait and see.
“We hope he recovers really fast so we can see him in the next few games.”
Jones was replaced by 17-year-old Trey Nyoni, who had a hand in Dominik Szoboszlai’s 34th-minute winner.
Slot added: “It’s always a pity if he (Jones) has to go out after 25 minutes, half an hour. And before that, you could see that he was not completely free.
“The good thing about that was that we brought someone (on) that impressed me in the 45 minutes to an hour he played afterwards.
“That was the positive thing of Curtis going out for Trey, but of course for Curtis it’s a pity that he couldn’t play on.”
Liverpool face Arsenal in Philadelphia on Thursday and Manchester United in Columbia, South Carolina next Sunday.
Slot has spoken to forward Fabio Carvalho about his future and told the 21-year-old to concentrate on working hard in training.
The Portuguese has not started a competitive game since January 2023, spending last season on loan at RB Leipzig and then Hull, but his long-term prospects remain unclear as he has struggled to fit into the structure of the side and a number of clubs retain an interest in him.
“We spoke about it and (Slot) told me to try and settle on the wing, but obviously I know where I play best and I feel that is as a number 10.
“I’m just going to do what he wants me to do and just work as hard as I can for him. He’s giving me good instructions and motivating me a lot in training and giving me that confidence.
“I feel like (Slot’s style) will fit all of us. I feel like he plays positive football, he likes creating chances and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
