I was quite surprised about the idea that Jones might leave so soon. I thought his early season form was good and I was looking forward to him coming back.
Gerrard has made it quite clear how he operates though so we should be able to make sense of it. If a player shows a poor attitude then he goes (see Lafferty and Windass). If he wants to move a player on then he will bring in an alternative to block the path to the team (see King and Docherty).
These facts, combined with the recall of Jake Hastie, make it clear. Gerrard, and the director of football, want to move Jones on while he can still get a transfer fee. Then take that money and get a creative midfielder in to provide more options for the remainder of the season.
If Barker moves on then that will help too. It has always been clear that he was signed in case we didn't progress in Europe and couldn't buy Kent.