Diogo Jota picks Liverpool’s hardest working player with instant response

Liverpool striker Diogo Jota has wasted no time in revealing that Curtis Jones is the hardest working player in the first team. The 27-year-old is now one of the senior members at Anfield but still has time to sit back and admire the commitment of some of his colleagues.

Jota, who joined the club from Wolverhampton Wanderers for around $48m (€44m/£37m) in 2020, was forced to watch from the sidelines due to muscle and knee problems much of last season. The versatile forward has missed 19 games through injury and opened up about the frustrations caused by setbacks.

“It’s so frustrating, especially when you feel like the team needs you. We were fighting for a lot of titles and you can’t play. It is very frustrating. It’s so hard (watching from the sidelines) – 100 times worse than the game.”

READ MORE: Liverpool make millions thanks to Philippe Coutinho on his birthday, eight years since signing
READ MORE: Liverpool ‘step up pursuit of $129m Joao Neves’ as Diogo Jota backs transfer

Despite problems throughout the 2023/24 campaign, Jota is in high spirits ahead of Euro 2024, Portugal and Arne Slot’s first pre-season in charge of Liverpool. He even took some time out before jetting off to Germany to give a better insight into the Reds’ dressing room as he spoke to GOAL.

When asked which of his Liverpool team-mates is the most involved during training, Jota was quick to reply: “Curtis Jones”.

Jones could thank legend Steven Gerrard for his effort in training after the former midfielder gave the youngster a harsh reality check during a pre-season tour. “It was Steven (Gerrard) who really came in,” Jones said on the We Are Liverpool podcast.

“I’ll never forget the time, we were away in pre-season – I don’t know what country it was – we came back and he put the whole team in a one-on-one.

“He talked about the things you did well and what you needed to improve on. I remember when he came in – I don’t want to say what he said – it was good, but it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t pretty. It was like hard truths.”

Liverpool.com says: Having a Liverpool-born player like Jones leading training is a promising thing to hear for the fans. Jones will know what it means to pull on the jersey and will hopefully inspire others to follow suit at the AXA Training Centre. This will likely be well received by new boss Arne Slot, who is known to be very demanding in training.