Curtis Jones has been tipped for big things for a long time now at Liverpool.
The young midfielder was on many fans’ radars as a young teenager, and he was called up to the first-team at a very young age.
However, while Jones seemingly possessed all the talent in the world at that age, the step-up to senior football is always daunting, and the player himself has now admitted how shocked he was by the level in the senior side.
Speaking on the We are Liverpool Podcast, Jones has recounted how James Milner really shocked him when he first came into Jurgen Klopp’s team, claiming that the way he’d conduct himself and lead the team really shocked him alongside how versatile and hard-working he was.
Milner shocked Jones
Jones spoke about his first call-up to the senior side at Liverpool.
“I couldn’t believe it at first when I first came in around it. You knew that the senior ones would always help the kids and that, but Millie just had a different brain, the knowledge he has is frightening. I remember he’d always pull me aside and tell me how much hard work I had to do and he’d be on my case a bit and help me out loads. The fact he was still there anytime you needed him to play, he’d run the most or shout the most, you could play him at right-wing, striker, or in the defensive line, how good he was with the lads was unbelievable,” Jones said.
Standards set
James Milner may not be at Liverpool anymore, but make no mistake about it, his legacy is still being felt at Anfield.
By all accounts, Milner was the man setting the standards in training everyday during his time on Merseyside, and young players like Jones seem to have inherited that mindset.
Having that elite James Milner approach to training will bode well for players like Jones going forwards, and it’s fair to say that the future looks very bright for Liverpool and their crop of youngsters.