'I'm finally shining at Liverpool - Jurgen Klopp texts show what kind of man he is'
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Curtis Jones has lifted the lid on how Jurgen Klopp is still helping to motivate him seven months on from his Liverpool exit. Klopp - who is set to begin work as Red Bull's head of global soccer in January - stepped down as Reds manager at the end of last season. However, Liverpool successor Arne Slot is reaping the rewards of his investment in Jones, considering the player has been a constant component in the new coach's rotation this term.
Jones - who turns 24 next month - celebrated his 100th Premier League appearance in style after scoring in the 3-1 Boxing Day win over Leicester City. And ahead of Sunday's visit to West Ham, he revealed how Klopp showed his class by reaching out to commemorate his latest achievement from afar.
"I actually got a nice text off him," the academy graduate told a reporter after beating the Foxes. "He was the one that said I'd played 100 games in the Premier League – I didn't even know. 'A hundred, onto the next 500. Congratulations, my friend.'".
The England international revealed just what his former boss' gesture meant to him - and that he isn't the only one to hear regularly from Klopp. He added: "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.
