Carragher urges Slot to abandon £50m Liverpool transfer chase after star pockets Cole Palmer in masterclass

Arne Slot has been told he no longer needs to consider signing Martin Zubimendi for Liverpool after Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville spoke about Curtis Jones’ incredible performance in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield.

The Reds were hoping to make the Spanish midfielder the first signing of the Slot era at Anfield when they agreed to meet the €60m (£50m, $65m) release clause in his Real Sociedad contract, only to the player decides against the change. and remain with his hometown team. It has since been suggested that Liverpool could rekindle the transfer in January, amid claims he still remains on their radar and with the Merseysiders opting not to sign an alternative.

The failure to sign Zubimendi has allowed Ryan Gravenberch to flourish at the base of midfield, with the Dutchman producing several eye-catching displays in the Reds’ march to the top of the Premier League.

However, on Sunday it was Jones’ turn to catch the eye, with the 23-year-old delivering a man-of-the-match performance in his second Premier League start of the season, scoring the winning goal against the Kop and helping the team de Slot to claim their tenth victory in 11 games in all competitions this season.

Jones was so good in the match that Carragher says they no longer need to think about reigniting their efforts to sign Zubimendi.

“He was brilliant, he was excellent,” Carragher said in Celestial sports.

“He’s still in that phase where he’s never made the first pick, where he knows he’s playing. You’ve got (Alexis) Mac Allister and Gravenberch who are excellent, so it must be difficult for him, but what a performance it was.

“You think about the quality on the pitch, you think about the money that was spent and for a local lad to put in a performance like that was excellent.”

Carragher added: “I keep thinking in the back of my mind: will Arne Slot return to Zubimendi in January? When you see performances like this you think not.

“Over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking that maybe Liverpool still need a midfielder, but when you have someone like Curtis Jones and those three fighting for two positions, that’s a great quality.”

READ MORE: Zubimendi breaks silence on rejecting Liverpool as Man City prepare to steal signing

Jones on pocketing Cole Palmer as Gary Neville talks about Liverpool star

Carragher says Jones’ performance was a throwback to some of the greats of the 1980s.

“That was almost a throwback to when I started watching football and you called someone a midfielder.

“You remember Bryan Robson, it was Steve McMahon for Liverpool, Peter Reid for Everton.

“I had to defend and also advance, and that was the type of performance we saw today. He was a little bit of everything.

“Doing the defensive work on Cole Palmer, getting into the box, scoring a goal, scoring a penalty.”

In his post-match interview, Jones admitted it was important for him to keep fellow England international Palmer quiet.

“We know how important he is for the whole team, how many goals he scores and also his assists,” said the match winner.

“So I had in mind that if I could keep Cole quiet, a big part of their game would be over.

“(For my block) I saw he was a little free and I knew he was on me, so I slid a little and he still had the ball – I put my foot there and just twisted, then I blocked the shot.

“He didn’t score or assist, so I’m happy!”

Gary Neville was also extremely impressed with Jones, waxing lyrical about the number 17 during his co-commentary.

“Curtis Jones is my best on the pitch. He scored the winning goal, has been the best player on the pitch and has been involved in many of Liverpool’s best plays.”

Latest Liverpool transfer news: Salah tipped for STAY/Slot eye Brighton star

Meanwhile, Liverpool have had reason to believe that Mo Salah will REMAIN at Anfield, with Carragher making clear the exact reasons why he is convinced the Reds talisman will sign a new contract.

His current deal expires next summer, giving Liverpool reason to fear he will leave for free. But Carragher is confident and adamant that Salah will remain as he closes several major goalscoring records.

Elsewhere, the Reds are interested in a deal for Brighton midfielder Facundo Buonanotte after a number of eye-catching performances whilst on loan at Leicester.

Manchester City, however, are also interested and ready to rival Liverpool for his signature, amid claims the Argentine could leave AMEX for a bargain price.

And finally, Liverpool goalkeeper Caiomhin Kelleher reinforced his belief that he needs to leave Anfield, despite impressing once again on Sunday when replacing Alisson in the victory over Enzo Maresca’s side.

Curtis Jones performance against Chelsea