Curtis Jones has praised the impact of Jurgen Klopp on his Liverpool career and said that under the German he went from a ‘kid to a man’.

Klopp handed Jones his senior debut in 2019 and helped him develop in the following years into a reliable first-team player. The midfielder played 36 times in the former Liverpool manager’s final campaign at Anfield - a number that was reduced by injury and suspension.

Jones has continued that progression under Arne Slot and made his 100th Premier League appearance on Boxing Day - and scored - in the 3-1 win over Leicester City. But the 23-year-old hasn’t forgotten his journey to the top and the people that helped him along the way, especially Klopp, who always believed Jones had what it takes to succeed at an elite level.

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• Curtis Jones lifts lid on Jurgen Klopp text after Liverpool's win over Leicester

• I saw Arne Slot reaction to Liverpool moment and he will completely agree with Jurgen Klopp text

“I actually got a nice text off him,” Liverpool’s No. 17 said in an interview with club media. “He was the one that said I'd played 100 games in the Premier League – I didn't even know. It means everything. Look, he has been texting me loads since he's been gone. He texts me all the time. That's what he is like as well with all the lads. He keeps in touch.

“He is the man who made me from a kid to a man. There was always talk around me, 'is he good enough? He's always injured and he needs a loan’. Things like that. There's a reason why I'm still here now, and that's because of him and the belief that he had in me and always knew the star that I can be.

“I'm not saying I'm a star now but he knows if I'm doing the right things – I'm scoring goals and I'm playing every week – with the quality that I've got, I can always help the team. I'm grateful for him and his staff, and it puts a smile on my face when I see a text off him there.

“I just said to him, 'I hope you are enjoying your time, your Christmas.' He said, 'Yeah, I am!' It's nice and he's always there with us. He's a great man, so I'm happy that he's still around from afar.”