Gareth Southgate has done Arne Slot two huge favours as Liverpool boss eyes transfers

England boss Gareth Southgate might have done Arne Slot a favour by excluding Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah from his Euro 2024 squad. Both Liverpool stars have been trimmed from the provisional list of 33 players and will not feature in Germany.

Jones and Quansah were one of seven players widely expected to be axed in a brutal cull by Southgate. However, their omission might be well received by incoming Liverpool head coach Slot.

Both stars were key in Jurgen Klopp’s final season at Anfield. Jones started to break into the Germany’s favoured midfield, while Quansah was excellent back-up to Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip in his first season in Liverpool’s senior team.

While their exclusion from the England squad might be personally upsetting, Jones and Quansah will now have a full summer to prepare for their first pre-season under Slot. Had England reached the latter stages of Euro 2024 with the Liverpool duo, they would have returned to Merseyside midway through the club’s preparation for the 2024-25 season.

Slot will run the rule over his new squad in early July, with Euro 2024 scheduled to run until July 14. Being able to begin pre-season from the first day will be of huge benefit to Jones and Quansah as they bid for a place in their new manager’s plans.

Klopp was hugely impressed with Jones’ performances last season. Only injuries prevented him from playing in more games for the Anfield side.

Speaking after Jones scored in a 4-2 victory over Newcastle in January, Klopp praised the 23-year-old academy graduate for ‘setting the level’ of Liverpool’s performance. He said: “Special game. Special game from Curtis, to be honest: his high press, his counter-press.

“We all know how good a player Curtis is, he is technically incredibly skilled, but he finds more and more direction in his dribbling, he gets better out of situations and his pressing and counter-pressing is meanwhile… he sets the level actually, how it should look.

“Really happy with that. He keeps every player in the game.”

Slot’s highly-energetic style of player could suit Jones, who will have vast competition for his place in midfield. Liverpool could still strengthen in the middle of the pitch during the summer transfer window, despite a major overhaul in the area last summer.

That could provide Jones an even stronger motivation to get back to pre-season training at the earliest opportunity. His and Quansah’s omissions from the England squad may provide a silver lining to the pair.