Liverpool Transfer Update: Curtis Jones Set for Inter Move, Quansah Situation
Curtis Jones and the end of an era
It feels like the end of a chapter at Anfield. Not a title-winning one, not a tale of a local lad carrying the club on his back, but something more subtle and, in its own way, just as important.
Curtis Jones, the last Scouser standing in Liverpool’s first-team squad, is on the brink of leaving the club he joined at nine years old.
Fabrizio Romano dropped his trademark “here we go” on X on Monday lunchtime, reporting that Inter have agreed a deal worth €35m with Liverpool – €30m up front and a further €4m-€5m in add-ons (around £30m plus £3.4m-£4.3m). Gianluca Di Marzio backed up the structure of the fee, while La Gazzetta dello Sport went with €30m plus €5m and suggested an “official announcement is expected in the next few hours”.
Liverpool sources, including the ECHO and James Pearce of The Athletic, are more cautious. A deal is described as “within sight”, but not yet fully signed off. A medical is already being planned, though, and the direction of travel is obvious. Barring a late twist, Jones is going.
His Liverpool story is a curious one. He never became the star many imagined when he first emerged under Jurgen Klopp, all swagger and stepovers on the fringes of that first great side. Klopp reshaped him into a hard-running, press-resistant No. 8, sacrificing some of the chaos for control. The maverick turned metronome.
He still didn’t quite hit the ceiling that seemed within reach. Yet he made himself vital. Jones covered three midfield roles, fought for his place every season and, under Arne Slot last term, even reinvented himself as a sturdy auxiliary right-back. A squad player on paper, but one whose absence you feel the moment you start counting options.
That’s where the anxiety kicks in for Liverpool supporters. Not just because a homegrown academy graduate is walking away, but because of what he leaves behind.
Midfield risk or ruthless reset?
With less than two weeks left in the window, the obvious question is: who replaces him?
Right now, the answer from those close to the club is brutal in its simplicity – probably nobody.
Journalist David Lynch, speaking via Anfield Index, has said his information points to “close to zero chance” of Liverpool signing a direct replacement. Instead, 19-year-old Trey Nyoni is expected to be promoted as fourth-choice central midfielder.
Nyoni is gifted, but raw. Behind him, Liverpool can lean on Wataru Endo as the defensive option, while James McConnell’s proposed loan to Preston North End has been put “on hold”. That pause feels telling. McConnell, 21, suddenly looks like a very useful extra homegrown body.
Stefan Bajcetic, once seen as a key part of the next midfield, has spent pre-season on an individual training programme and is now attracting interest from Getafe. His immediate impact this season looks doubtful.
The club’s argument is that cover can be patched together elsewhere. New loan signing Ronald Araujo played right-back six times for Barcelona last season and is rated highly in one-v-one duels out wide. Jeremy Jacquet and Joe Gomez can both shuffle across to protect Jeremie Frimpong when Conor Bradley is unavailable. Calvin Ramsay, a natural right-back, is still on the books despite loan talk.
Put all that together and Liverpool clearly believe they can ride this out without dipping back into the market. The homegrown quota complicates things further. Losing Jones means one fewer locally trained player at a time when the club are already juggling non-homegrown numbers for their Champions League squad.
Targets like Adam Wharton, who briefly set social media alight after being spotted winning a signed Steven Gerrard Istanbul 2005 shirt on eBay, would tick the homegrown box. But the sense is that those options are either too expensive or not the right tactical fit for Andoni Iraola.
It is still a gamble. Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch both had dips last season, Nyoni is untested, and the schedule will be unforgiving. Sky Sports’ Vinny O’Connor has suggested that “you would expect a replacement to be brought in” if Jones left, but the market is thin and Liverpool’s price point is unforgiving.
The club may yet blink. For now, they look prepared to start the season lighter in a key area.
Quansah, Guehi and a near miss
If Liverpool do go into the new campaign a defender light again, memories of last season’s Marc Guehi saga will not be far away.
The club thought they had their man from Crystal Palace last summer, only for Steve Parish to pull the plug on deadline day while Guehi was undergoing his Liverpool medical. When the deal resurfaced in January, Guehi’s wage demands had climbed beyond what the club were prepared to sanction. By then, the chance had gone and he ended up at Manchester City for a lower fee than Liverpool had originally agreed.
The real self-inflicted wound, though, was Jarell Quansah.
Liverpool sanctioned his sale to Bayer Leverkusen while the Guehi deal was still far from guaranteed. Quansah, one of the most promising young centre-backs in the Premier League, walked away for a fee that now looks like a steal. The club then failed to replace him properly and spent most of the season balancing on a fitness tightrope with only two senior centre-backs, both struggling for form.
The most baffling part? Liverpool built a buy-back clause into Quansah’s Leverkusen contract, valid this summer or next. It was a tacit admission they might want him back almost as soon as he left, which raised obvious questions over the logic of selling him in the first place.
Despite his strong form in Germany, Liverpool chose not to trigger the clause this summer. The buy-back fee is believed to drop next year, so there is at least a financial angle to that decision, especially after the arrivals of Jeremy Jacquet, the return to fitness of Giovanni Leoni and the loan for Araujo.
Then Arsenal arrived on the scene.
Last week, Sky Sports and The Athletic both reported that the Gunners were in talks over Quansah, just a year after he left Anfield. The prospect of watching a homegrown centre-back develop into a Premier League mainstay at a direct rival, with a Liverpool buy-back clause sitting idle, was almost too much for some supporters to stomach.
Now, Liverpool look to have been spared that particular humiliation. Sky Sports report Arsenal are “in advanced talks” for Ezri Konsa instead. The Aston Villa defender, like Quansah, is right-sided and capable of covering at right-back.
Arsenal’s interest in Konsa has been bubbling for weeks, so their flirtation with Quansah may yet prove to have been leverage in negotiations with Villa, who have been holding out for around £60m.
Whatever the motive, the outcome suits Liverpool. Quansah will not be turning up at the Emirates this summer. The buy-back option, and the chance to correct last year’s mistake, stays alive.
Aranda and the South American pipeline
While senior midfielders edge towards the exit, Liverpool’s recruitment department continues to cast its net deep into South America.
After agreeing a deal earlier this summer for Colombian attacking midfielder Samuel Martinez – who will join up with the club next year – the Reds are now being linked with Boca Juniors prospect Tomas Aranda.
El Crack Deportivo report that Liverpool are among a cluster of clubs “courting” the 19-year-old, who can operate as an attacking midfielder or off the left. Aranda’s numbers this season are modest – one goal and three assists in 19 games – but inside Boca he is regarded as a jewel. Club president Juan Roman Riquelme, who knows a thing or two about that role, has labelled him a “great gem” and, according to the same report, “doesn’t want to know” about losing him.
Aranda has a $20m (£14.7m) release clause. El Intransigente suggest that a bid close to that figure could force Boca into a difficult decision.
Chelsea’s name sits at the top of the list of suitors in both reports. Liverpool, though, are also said to be tracking Aranda “closely”, alongside Inter, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, the City Group, Parma, Como and Brazilian sides Corinthians and Sao Paulo.
It fits a pattern. Liverpool have increasingly tried to bypass “stepping-stone” clubs in the hunt for elite young talent, bringing players in earlier and developing them in-house. Deals for Martinez, Mor Talla Ndiaye, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Rio Ngumoha and Nyoni all speak to that strategy.
They have also been linked with Tijuana’s 17-year-old playmaker Gilberto Mora, who caught the eye at the Under-17 World Cup with Mexico. The scouting map is clear: go early, go global.
Ndukwe loan, Gakpo noise and Darwin’s Saudi shuffle
Away from Jones and Quansah, there is movement and noise around the fringes of Liverpool’s squad.
Multiple outlets report that Ifeanyi Ndukwe is close to joining Levante on a season-long loan. The Austria Vienna academy product impressed at centre-back in pre-season and a year in LaLiga should accelerate his development – and his work permit prospects. Playing in a Band 1 league will help him rack up the points needed to qualify under post-Brexit regulations. Paul Gorst has reported that Levante are “at the front of the queue”, though the move is not yet final.
In north London, Tottenham are plotting an attacking overhaul. Sky Sports say Spurs want three forwards before the window shuts, with Cody Gakpo high on their list for the left side. On the opposite flank, Savinho is a major target, while Omar Marmoush is among the centre-forward options. Pedro Neto is viewed as an alternative if Gakpo proves unattainable.
One detail will catch Liverpool eyes: Spurs are said to be “waiting for Liverpool to sign Bradley Barcola and – potentially – his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Ibrahim Mbaye before they bid for Gakpo on top of Savinho.” That hinges on a lot of moving parts, and there is no suggestion from Liverpool’s side that a Gakpo sale is on the agenda. For now, it is noise rather than a live negotiation.
Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, Darwin Nunez’s namesake and compatriot – former Liverpool forward Luis Nunez? No. This is about the other Nunez in the Pro League. Darwin Nunez remains a Liverpool player; the Nunez on the move is the one already in Saudi, switching from Al Hilal to Al Diriyah on loan after being frozen out at last season’s runners-up. He had been close to joining Mohamed Salah at Trabzonspor, but that deal collapsed, and he will stay in the Saudi Pro League for at least another year. Journalist Sacha Tavolieri has outlined the situation, with Al Diriyah agreeing to cover 75% of his wages.
Endrick rumour unravels
And then there is the daily dose of nonsense.
On the surface, Endrick to Liverpool sounds almost logical. Liverpool need depth on the right and through the middle; the Brazilian teenager can play both roles, has Champions League experience and a frightening ceiling.
Scratch at the story, though, and it collapses.
The rumour first bubbled up on Madrid Universal, a Real Madrid fan site that aggregates reports about their players and targets. They cited Mundo Deportivo, who claimed Endrick’s path at Madrid is blocked by competition and recent arrivals Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi, and that Liverpool had registered interest in either a €65m (£55.7m) permanent deal or a loan.
Mundo Deportivo, in turn, pointed to “the English press, specifically Livescore”. Livescore’s piece turned out to be a re-post of an Anfield Watch article, which itself leaned on a typically unsourced story from Fichajes.
From there, the rumour spirals. Fichajes reported that “Jose Mourinho is counting on the player for the upcoming 2026-27 season, although his future will depend on the attacker's own decision.” That directly contradicts what The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana reported last week: that Endrick has already decided to stay at Madrid and “fight for his place”, a stance agreed by “the player, the club and head coach”.
Fichajes even acknowledge this, noting that Endrick has “maintained over the last few weeks his intention of competing for minutes in Madrid” and that “just a few days ago, the situation pointed to him staying” after Mourinho and the sporting leadership opted to keep him.
What they never do is explain what changed. Because nothing has.
So the rumour stands on air – a chain of recycled reports, each leaning on the next, with no fresh decision, no new conversation, and no actual movement from Madrid or Liverpool.
It is a neat snapshot of the modern transfer circus. Somewhere in that maze, the real questions remain: with Jones leaving, Quansah parked in Germany and the midfield stretched, where do Liverpool choose to take a genuine risk – and where do they finally decide they cannot afford one?
