Liverpool have ‘pulled the plug’ on midfielder’s exit despite ‘agreement’ being reached
Liverpool have ‘pulled the plug’ on one player’s proposed exit from Anfield despite a deal having been agreed with the club he was set to join.
The Reds are preparing to say goodbye to homegrown midfielder Curtis Jones after a 16-year association with his boyhood side, with the England international on the verge of completing a £30m transfer to Inter Milan.
Another LFC academy graduate in James McConnell had also been set to depart, albeit on loan for Championship outfit Preston, but those plans have now changed.
Liverpool block McConnell’s loan move to Preston
In a transfer Q&A for the Daily Mail, Lewis Steele explained that Liverpool have ‘pulled the plug’ on the 21-year-old’s planned move to Deepdale, even though the Lilywhites had a ‘deal agreed’ for him to join and had promised him regular game-time.
The journalist wrote: ‘The young midfielder, who spent time at Ajax last season, knocked on the door of boss Andoni Iraola last Friday and was told he is part of his plans after impressing in training and there will be minutes for him in the first team this year.
‘McConnell also had a meeting with sporting director Richard Hughes, who stressed there is no official pecking order in the midfield so both [Trey] Nyoni and McConnell can push for minutes.’
Can McConnell establish himself as a first-team player at Liverpool?
The midfielder played in four pre-season games for Liverpool over the past month and started in the behind-closed-doors friendly against Como last Sunday, featuring for an hour in that match.
The most recent of his 13 official senior appearances for the Reds came in the FA Cup humiliation by Plymouth Argyle 18 months ago, and a loan move to Ajax last season was cut short, but his prospects of making the grade at Anfield now seem to have improved.
Iraola has evidenly seen enough from McConnell to impress him in recent weeks that he plans to integrate him into the first-team setup this term, and Jones’ impending move to Italy should give the 21-year-old greater scope for senior minutes in the campaign ahead.
The youngster will probably still be reliant on mostly substitute appearances and domestic cup outings, but he may well view Liverpool’s intervention to cancel the planned loan switch to Preston as a massive compliment and added motivation to repay that faith from the club.
Hopefully these next few months will see the Reds midfielder firmly establish himself as a first-team player at Anfield, in the way that Jones managed over the past few years.
