Inter Milan Intensifies Bid for Curtis Jones Amid Liverpool's Stance
Inter Milan are back at Liverpool’s door for Curtis Jones, and this time they’ve come armed with a bigger cheque – but still not one big enough to make Anfield blink.
The Serie A champions have renewed their push to prise the midfielder away from Merseyside as they build for another title defence in Italy. Their interest never really cooled after an initial move earlier in the summer was rebuffed, and they have now returned via intermediaries with an improved offer.
Liverpool’s stance, though, has barely moved an inch.
Inter raise the stakes – but hit the same wall
According to The Athletic, Inter’s first proposal, worth around €25 million, was swiftly turned down. Liverpool responded by setting out their position clearly: Jones is valued at closer to €40 million.
That figure has framed every conversation since.
Inter have now come back with a second bid in the region of €35 million. It edges closer to Liverpool’s valuation, but still falls short. For now, that gap is decisive. The Premier League club are described as having little appetite for compromise, and there is no indication they are ready to soften that €40 million line.
The message from Liverpool is simple: meet the price, or move on.
Contract clock ticking, but Liverpool hold their nerve
Jones has entered the final year of his current deal at Anfield. Ordinarily, that would be the moment a selling club starts to feel the ground shift beneath them, the moment leverage drains away and discounts creep in.
Not this time.
Liverpool’s position has remained consistent throughout negotiations. Club officials are understood to be prepared to carry the risk of Jones running his contract down and leaving on a free transfer in 2027 rather than accept a fee they see as short of his true worth.
It is a hard line, backed up with a pointed reference to the market. Internally, Liverpool have highlighted Tottenham Hotspur’s €40 million signing of Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid earlier this year as a benchmark. If Gallagher commands that level, they argue, then Jones sits in the same bracket.
For Inter, that comparison is a problem they have not yet solved.
Long-term admiration from Milan
Inter’s pursuit is not a sudden impulse driven by a quiet week in the transfer market. Their admiration for Jones stretches back at least to January, when they tested Liverpool’s resolve with a different structure.
Back then, the Nerazzurri explored an initial loan with an option to buy. Liverpool dismissed it without hesitation. No room for a try-before-you-buy arrangement, no interest in weakening their squad mid-season for a deal that might never become permanent.
Now Inter are back with a straight transfer in mind, looking to inject fresh energy into a midfield that has just powered them to another Scudetto. The profile is clear: a technically secure, tactically flexible midfielder with top-level experience who can slot into Simone Inzaghi’s system and stay there for years.
They know exactly what they want. They just haven’t yet matched what Liverpool demand.
A homegrown pillar at Anfield
Jones is not a fringe piece being quietly shuffled towards the exit. He is a product of Liverpool’s academy, a player who has grown up inside the club’s walls and carved out a significant role since his senior debut in 2019.
Across more than 220 appearances, he has become a dependable part of the first-team squad, offering goals, assists and the kind of positional versatility managers covet. He can operate across several midfield roles, retain the ball under pressure, and stitch together phases of play with a composure that suits Liverpool’s style.
That blend of technical quality and tactical flexibility is a major reason Liverpool are in no rush to cash in, even with competition for places intensifying in recent seasons.
There are, at present, no active talks over a contract extension. The door is not closed, though. Liverpool are understood to be open to discussing fresh terms if the right agreement can be found down the line.
For now, the priority is simpler: keep Jones, unless someone pays the number on the tag.
Stalemate or turning point?
So the situation sits on a knife-edge familiar in modern football. Inter want a key piece for their midfield rebuild. Liverpool want to hold a line they believe reflects both the market and the value of one of their longest-serving players.
The Italian champions have already moved once, from €25 million to €35 million. Liverpool are still pointing at €40 million and refusing to look away.
The next move belongs to Inter. Do they push all the way to Liverpool’s asking price, or walk away from a midfielder they have chased across two windows?
