Arne Slot insists Curtis Jones remains a long-term option for Liverpool and says it would be "strange" if the club chose to let one of their available outfield options leave.

Jones was heavily linked with a move to Inter during the January transfer window, with the Nerazzurri reportedly eyeing an initial loan deal with an option to buy.

However, despite the midfielder supposedly asking to leave Liverpool, they were reluctant to let him leave, given their recent injury issues.

Jones, whose current contract is set to run out in 2027, has made 30 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions this term, starting 17 of those, but he has been limited to just 1,691 minutes.

And Slot explained that while Jones was unfortunate not to feature more, they never had any plans to let him go.

"He's played a lot of minutes, not all of them, but he's also unlucky in the sense that it's the only line where we haven't had injuries, but he's still played a lot of minutes, and that's of course why we kept him," Slot said.

"We have a lot of players in that line, but we need these midfielders in different positions as well, and the moment you need that, the line in midfield gets smaller and smaller.

"Of course, we kept him, and the situation hasn't changed. To us, he is one of the 16 players we have available for long-term and also in this moment in time.

"[It] would be a bit strange if we let anyone go if we only have 16 of them."

Among Liverpool's senior midfielders, only Wataru Endo (387) has played fewer minutes in 2025-26 than Jones.

The 25-year-old has the best passing accuracy of anyone in the squad who has played in more than one game, with 93.2% – completed 1,395 of his 1.497 passes.

Liverpool currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, two points behind the top four, ahead of their meeting with Manchester City on Sunday.