Curtis Jones Joins Inter Milan in £30m Transfer from Liverpool
Inter Milan have completed the signing of Curtis Jones from Liverpool in a £30m (€35m) deal, drawing a hard line under one of the longest-running stories in the Reds’ academy history.
Liverpool will receive a fixed £25.7m fee plus £4.28m in add-ons, with a 10 per cent sell-on clause also agreed. For a player who walked through the doors at Kirkby as a nine-year-old and leaves as a double Premier League winner, it is both ruthless business and a wrench.
A Liverpool life, cut at 16 years
Jones departs having entered the final year of his contract, ending a 16-year association with his boyhood club. He made his first-team debut in the 2018/19 season and went on to rack up 228 appearances, scoring 22 goals.
His medal collection is the sort that defines a career: two Premier League titles, two Carabao Cups, the Club World Cup and the FA Cup, plus a Champions League runners-up medal from 2022. Those numbers tell one story. The way he chose to say goodbye tells another.
“After 16 years, it's time to say goodbye,” Jones wrote in an emotional farewell to supporters, speaking of arriving at Liverpool as a kid and leaving as “a man with a family of my own”. He thanked academy staff who had “literally watched me grow up”, every manager and coach who trusted him, and the people behind the scenes who “make this place what it is”.
“I came here as a kid with a dream and I'm leaving having lived it,” he said. “I will always be one of you. YNWA.”
Iraola loses a loyal lieutenant – and backs a teenager
New head coach Andoni Iraola had wanted to keep Jones at Anfield. He valued the midfielder’s versatility and experience in a dressing room undergoing change. But once it became clear a deal was advancing, his tone shifted towards what comes next.
The Spaniard has already talked up 19-year-old Trey Nyoni as a genuine option to step up this season, a bold show of faith in a player who has impressed in pre-season and is now being nudged towards a bigger stage.
Jones made 49 appearances under former boss Arne Slot last term, 34 of them in a bruising Premier League title defence. He shared the midfield workload with Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, and even filled in as a makeshift right-back when required. That flexibility will not be easy to replace.
Iraola, though, is reshaping the structure. He plans to use Florian Wirtz in his preferred No 10 role in a 4-2-3-1, which leaves Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch battling for two deeper midfield berths in front of the back four. Wataru Endo remains in the mix, while Nyoni’s rapid rise gives the Basque coach another live option.
And with £30m banked, Liverpool are expected to at least explore the market for a replacement, even if there is no guarantee they move immediately.
Wide men remain the priority
Jones’ sale does not alter Liverpool’s long-standing priority this window: adding quality in wide areas.
They have already seen two bids rejected by Brighton for Yankuba Minteh, the latest worth £60m. The stance from the south coast has been firm so far, but Liverpool’s interest has not gone away.
They are also pursuing Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, who is valued by the European champions at a huge £145m. That figure underlines the scale of the challenge if Liverpool are to prise him away, yet it also signals the level at which the club are aiming as they rebuild under Iraola.
Cody Gakpo remains a target for Spurs, but Liverpool do not want to sell as things stand. With Jones gone and other senior figures already moved on in recent windows, there is little appetite at Anfield to strip away further attacking depth.
Inter’s English core grows
For Inter, this is another decisive move in a summer that has had a distinctly English flavour. Jones becomes the third England international to join the club in this transfer window, following John Stones and Djed Spence into Cristian Chivu’s squad.
Inter are betting that Jones’ mix of tactical intelligence, work-rate and big-game experience will translate smoothly to Serie A and European competition. At 23, he arrives with a full career behind him at one superclub and the chance to become a central figure at another.
Liverpool, meanwhile, turn the page. An academy graduate who grew up under their badge has gone, his number and his minutes now up for grabs. The question is no longer what Curtis Jones can become at Anfield.
It’s who steps forward to write the next chapter in that midfield.
