Curtis Jones' cheeky five-word message as he offers up Liverpool team-mate in tunnel
Curtis Jones couldn't resist making a cheeky joke at the expense of Liverpool team-mate Alexis Mac Allister during the Argentine's return to Brighton in the League Cup
Curtis Jones joked that Brighton and Hove Albion could “have Alexis Mac Allister back” before the Liverpool midfielder faced his former club. The Reds visited the Amex Stadium last week for a Carabao Cup clash, where Mac Allister made an appearance off the bench for Arne Slot'st side.
Jones played the full 90 minutes in Liverpool's 3-2 victory. And the England U21s sensation was in good spirits even before the game as he took a light-hearted jab at team-mate Mac Allister's expense.
As the Liverpool squad emerged from the tunnel to start their pre-match warm-ups, Mac Allister bumped into two familiar faces from Brighton's staff.
The Argentine shared hugs and pleasantries, with one of the ladies saying: "Nice to see you, we missed you!” Mac Allister was left blushing, much to the amusement of team-mate Darwin Nunez.
Jones, overhearing the exchange, jokingly responded with a straight face: "You can have him back." Brighton didn't have to wait long to see their former star again as they travelled to Anfield last Saturday for a Premier League fixture, which ended in a 2-1 defeat after an emphatic Liverpool comeback.
Despite the jesting on Jones’ part, the 23-year-old lauded the arrival of Mac Allister last season following his £35million move in the summer of 2023, saying he had learned a very useful trick from the World Cup winner. Jones specifically identified Mac Allister’s use of his body, notably his bottom, while keeping possession.
Asked what he had learned from his new team-mates, Jones went full Yaya Toure - who has regularly discussed the benefits of utilising the backside - by saying: "Mac Allister, I'll speak on him. He comes in and how he protects the ball, I've never seen before.
"He can receive the ball and does this thing where he sticks his bum out a little bit and you can't take the ball from him. So I'm thinking, just his experience, he knows when he's going to get pressed and the way he moves."
Slot was delighted with he win over Brighton, saying after the game: “I think a lot of things happen during a season. Sometimes you have to defend a lead, sometimes you have to come back after going 1-0 behind. So, this is a win you also need in a season where you want to be competitive, because you cannot always be from the first until the last second the best team on the pitch.
“Sometimes you have a difficult period and then you need to fight back, and that’s what we did. I didn’t ask – I would love them to do so and they did in the end - but I didn’t ask them to score two goals, I only asked them to play a different second half than we played against Nottingham Forest, with a different mentality.
"So if things go against you, you have to show up. Winners always do, and fortunately we have a lot of winners in our team that showed up in the second half.”