Inter’s Midfield Plan: Frattesi and Curtis Jones Talks
Inter have spent the summer with one name circled in red for their midfield: Curtis Jones. Everything else, every outgoing, every negotiation, has been framed around whether they can prise the Liverpool midfielder away at the right price.
Right now, Davide Frattesi sits at the heart of that plan.
Frattesi–Lazio axis that could unlock Jones
As reported by Fabrizio Romano (via SOSFanta), Inter and Lazio have opened talks over a deal for Frattesi built around a loan with a conditional obligation to buy. The structure suits all parties on paper: Lazio get a starting-calibre midfielder without an immediate heavy outlay, Inter gain the financial room to attack their primary target.
For Frattesi, the priority is simple: minutes. He made 33 appearances last season but started only a handful. For a player in his prime years, that isn’t enough, and his camp is pushing for a move where he can walk straight into the XI.
If Lazio manage to close with Inter, the dominoes start to fall. Inter are ready to reignite their chase for Jones and push hard. The Italian champions are prepared to invest up to €35 million for the Liverpool player, a clear sign of how highly Simone Inzaghi and the club rate him as a long-term piece in their midfield.
Liverpool, though, are not blinking. Despite Jones having a relatively short time left on his contract, the Premier League side continue to demand a hefty fee. They know his age, profile, and homegrown status carry weight. Jones is open to the move and has been carefully managed in pre-season, a detail that has not gone unnoticed in Milan.
Agents, alternatives, and a complicated Lazio market
Alfredo Pedullà reports that Frattesi has been formally offered to Lazio by his agent, Giuseppe Riso. Riso is a familiar figure in Serie A corridors, also representing Mario Gila, Andrea Pinamonti, and Lorenzo Lucca, and he has been active in trying to unlock a move for his client.
Lazio had explored a separate path earlier in the window, considering a partial swap deal with Napoli, but Milan stepped in and snapped up the defensive target involved in those talks. That forced the capital club to look elsewhere.
One of those options, Benfica’s Franjo Ivanovic, has slipped away too, with the player heading to Lens instead. That setback pushes Frattesi higher up their list as a ready-made solution for the middle of the pitch.
On paper, Lazio look like an ideal landing spot. Frattesi would walk into the side as a day-one starter, something he cannot count on at Inter. The move would carry a hint of irony given his Roma past, but that is the kind of twist Serie A thrives on.
The problem? Lazio’s transfer operations are notoriously slow and tangled. Deals drag. Negotiations stall. And Inter, fresh from winning the Scudetto, are not about to hand over a key asset on the cheap. Any agreement will require patience and pressure in equal measure.
If Lazio finally break through that wall and take Frattesi, Inter’s path to Curtis Jones opens up. If they don’t, the European champions-in-waiting risk heading into the new season still one midfielder short of their ideal plan.
