Curtis Jones Transfer Stalemate: Inter Milan Faces Liverpool's Firm Stance
Inter Milan’s long courtship of Curtis Jones has hit a wall – and it’s painted Liverpool red.
The Serie A champions have admired the Liverpool midfielder for months, seeing an opportunity as he moves into the final year of his contract at Anfield. On paper, it looked like the classic smart Inter move: identify a technically gifted player with one year left, push for value, close a clever deal.
Reality has been harsher.
Liverpool, wary of losing Jones for nothing next summer, are open to a sale. They just have no intention of giving him away. An offer of €25m (£21.7m) from Inter was knocked back, with Liverpool valuing the 25-year-old closer to £35m – a gap that has now dragged the negotiations to the brink.
Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio did little to hide either their admiration or their frustration.
“I’ve never denied that we like Curtis Jones,” he said. “He has the qualities that could give us something extra. But there’s a significant gap between our valuation and Liverpool’s.
“Liverpool have every right to ask for what they believe is a fair price, and we have every right to decide whether that works for us or not. As things stand, I’d say it’s very difficult.”
Those words felt like more than a gentle warning. They sounded like a near-admission of defeat.
Inter first tried to move in January, testing the water with a loan offer including an option to buy. Liverpool dismissed it immediately. The message then was clear: not on those terms, not mid-season.
Inter didn’t walk away. They stayed in the conversation, kept the dialogue open, and returned in this window with a permanent bid. The response has been the same – Liverpool will sell, but only at their price.
The market around Jones complicates the picture further. Nottingham Forest, searching for midfield reinforcements after Elliot Anderson’s big-money move to Manchester City for £116m, have looked at the Liverpool man. For now, Jones is believed to have little interest in that move.
Forest may have money. They do not yet have the pull he wants.
Aston Villa and Arsenal have also been linked, clubs with European ambitions and established Premier League platforms that might better suit a player entering what should be his prime years. No bids from those sides have been confirmed, but their presence in the conversation matters. Liverpool know there could be a broader market. Inter know it too.
That is where the tension lies. From Inter’s perspective, Jones is a player they admire, not a player they can afford to overpay for. From Liverpool’s side, he is a homegrown asset in his mid-twenties, under contract for another year, with interest in England and abroad. They can justify a premium.
So the stalemate hardens.
Inter’s long-standing interest hasn’t vanished, yet Ausilio’s tone suggests the Italian club are ready to look elsewhere unless Liverpool’s stance softens. Liverpool, for their part, must decide how far they are willing to push the price on a player who could leave for nothing in 12 months.
One side will eventually blink. The question is whether it happens in this window – or in a year’s time, when Curtis Jones walks away for free and this stand-off looks like a gamble that backfired.
