Liverpool youngster Lloyd Jones has been charged with assault after having been arrested outside a nightclub in March this year. Jones, who was on loan with Swindon Town at the time, was arrested in the early hours in March outside a nightclub in Cheltenham.
According to the Daily Mirror, the 21-year old was arrested on March 12th, just hours after Swindon’s 3-2 loss against Port Vale. Jones was charged with two counts of assault in the nightclub and was bailed to appear before Cheltenham magistrates on July 27th.
He joined Liverpool from hometown club Plymouth Argyle for £150,000 in 2011. Jones signed a new contract at Anfield last August, before swiftly heading to Swindon Town on loan. He is now back at his parent club.
Jones is a tall centre-back, who is highly rated by those at Liverpool. Since joining from Plymouth he has been sent on loan to Cheltenham Town, Accrington Stanley, Blackpool, and Swindon Town. In fact, his time at Swindon was more productive than any of his previous loan spells, as he made over twice as many appearances for the West Country team. He also scored two goals.
He is eligible to play international football for England and Wales, with the former in the driving position to win the race, as things stand. Jones represented the Wales U16’s and U17’s, before playing for the England U19’s and U20’s.
You could say that Jones’ career has stagnated a little. Despite last season being his best in terms of appearances and performances at senior level, he still isn’t close to making the breakthrough to the Liverpool first-team squad. This incident certainly won’t help his chances of achieving that.
At the age of 21, he has a choice. Stay and keep fighting for his Liverpool dream, or accept defeat and move elsewhere. As he grows older, it can’t be healthy to be sent out on loan after loan. For some players it has paid off, but generally, such a lack of continuity is never a good thing.
This is understood to be Jones’ first misdemeanour. Liverpool should be able to smack him on the wrists and move on. He is a young man and young men can make mistakes. Although, there cannot be a repeat of the same.
