James Pearce has singled out Liverpool teenager Curtis Jones as the pick of the young players who've risen to prominence over the course of the 2019/20 season.

What's the word?

While speaking to the Red Agenda podcast (episode 20, March 31st), The Athletic's Reds correspondent was talking all things academy with Simon Hughes and Steve Hothersall.

The success of the academy at Liverpool has been amplified by the emergence of Trent Alexander-Arnold in recent years, while plenty of the club's finest young players have been handed opportunities to impress in domestic cup competitions this season.

Neco Williams, Pedro Chirivella, Adam Lewis and Harvey Elliot are just some of the youngsters who have impressed so far this season, but it is Jones who represents the cream of the crop according to Pearce.

Here's what he had to say on the Red Agenda podcast (38:15):

"Curtis Jones for me has been the pick of the young crop over the course of this season. I think back to when he made his debut at Wolves in the FA Cup and he looked like a young boy in a man's game, and looked a bit lost.

"He was great to watch at youth level and Steven Gerrard absolutely loved working with him and he was very skilful. But you could tell he needed a lot of developing and moulding into a player. He had this habit of playing out wide and beating a player two, three, four times just for the sake of it.

"You speak to the academy staff and they'd always say with some players you need to build them up and try and instil self-belief. I think it's fair to say Curtis was at the other end of the scale and just trying to ensure he didn't get too big for his boots.

"Over the last year he's developed every single facet. We've seen it tactically when he's played in the first-team this season. Physically he's certainly much better able now to handle the demands of top flight football. You can tell by the way the senior players have warmed to him that there's absolutely no issues there with his attitude or feeling like he's getting too big for his boots."

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Star in the making

That Klopp took Jones to the Club World Cup prior to the turn of the year speaks volumes abut how highly regarded the 19-year-old prodigy really is.

Having captained the youth team in the past, Jones received another symbolic endorsement earlier this year when he was given the captain's armband for the FA Cup fourth round clash against Shrewsbury Town, while he has also made two Premier League cameos this season.

Evidently, it is not only Pearce who holds Jones in such high regard.

Breaking into a side of Liverpool's quality will certainly represent the biggest challenge of the academy product's career to date, but Alexander-Arnold's progression shows the opportunities are there to be taken.

Given the quality and breadth of Liverpool's youngsters, the endorsement from the highly-respected Pearce suggests that he has a fantastic chance of breaking into the first-team when football eventually returns.

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