Inter Milan Pursues Curtis Jones as Liverpool Faces Tension
Inter Milan’s pursuit of Curtis Jones has moved from background noise to a live, pulsing story, with growing belief in Italy that the Liverpool midfielder is ready to force through a move.
The Serie A champions have circled Jones since January, refusing to be shaken off despite a series of rebuffs from Anfield. Their latest offer, around €25m, went the same way as the rest – straight into Liverpool’s reject pile – but the mood around the deal has shifted.
Inter’s negotiators, working through intermediaries, have kept the talks alive and are now trying to piece together a new proposal closer to €30m. The aim is simple: break the deadlock before someone blinks.
Liverpool’s stance has been clear for months. They value Jones at about €35m (£30m), a price they see as more than fair in a Premier League market where homegrown, peak-age midfielders rarely come cheap. Yet there is a growing sense that, if the structure is right and the player’s will becomes unmistakable, that figure might not be immovable.
Iraola wants clarity, not drama
Andoni Iraola has walked into Anfield with a reputation for intensity and clarity, and his view on Jones reflects that. The new head coach rates the academy product highly and, in an ideal world, would keep him as part of his midfield core.
But this is not an ideal world, and Iraola has made his position clear behind closed doors: if Jones is going to go, then do it early. No drawn-out saga, no late-window scramble. Resolve it, one way or the other, before the season’s serious work begins.
That urgency is sharpened by the player’s contract situation. Jones is entering the final 12 months of his deal, and, crucially, fresh talks are not on the table. There is no active push from Liverpool to extend, no sign of a new offer being prepared. For a 23-year-old who has grown up at the club, that silence speaks loudly.
Jones, for his part, is understood to be open to the idea of a new start in Milan. Inter see an opportunity: a technically gifted midfielder, with European experience and a point to prove, available at a price they believe can still be nudged into their range.
Flashpoint after Wrexham friendly
If his future was already a talking point, it flared into sharper focus after Liverpool’s recent pre-season win over Wrexham.
At full-time, cameras picked up a heated exchange involving Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Kostas Tsimikas. Those close to the situation acknowledge there was a disagreement on the pitch. The trigger, sources say, was a seemingly small detail that cut deep for a proud academy graduate: the captain’s armband.
When Szoboszlai was substituted, he handed the armband not to Jones, but to Tsimikas. Jones, who had worn the armband before and sees himself as one of the dressing room’s leaders, did not hide his frustration.
Inside Liverpool, the incident is being played down. The club insist it is not a major issue and have framed it as the kind of flare-up that happens in competitive environments. Yet, in the context of a stalled contract and mounting transfer noise, it has only added fuel to the conversation around where Jones truly sits in the hierarchy.
Inter, watching from afar, sense their moment.
Inter’s plan: Stones, then Jones
Having already pulled off one major Premier League raid by bringing in John Stones, Inter are pushing to make Jones their second England international of the window. They believe the timing favours them: a player unsettled, a club weighing value against sentiment, and a coach who wants answers quickly.
The Italian champions started this chase as admirers. They are now acting like a club convinced the deal can be done.
Liverpool, though, know what they stand to lose. Jones is a homegrown midfielder, tactically flexible, comfortable in tight spaces and still with room to grow. Letting him leave for less than their valuation would be a hard swallow, yet allowing him to drift into the final months of his contract with no resolution would be worse.
Something has to give.
As Inter prepare their improved package and Jones weighs up the prospect of swapping Anfield for San Siro, the question hangs over Liverpool’s summer: is this the moment they cash in on one of their own, or the moment they decide he is too important to let go?
