Inter Intensifies Pursuit of Curtis Jones as Liverpool Faces £30m Exit
Inter are pushing hard to prise Curtis Jones away from Liverpool, with talks under way over a deal that is expected to end the 25-year-old’s long association with his boyhood club if the Italian champions hit a fee of around £30m.
The Serie A winners have tracked Jones since January. They tested Liverpool’s resolve in June with a €25m offer that was swiftly rejected, but they have not backed off. This month, intermediaries working for Inter went back to Anfield with a fresh proposal that could climb to €35m (£30m), and formal negotiations between the clubs began on Wednesday.
No agreement is in place yet. The sense inside the deal, though, is clear: if Inter are prepared to go to the full €35m, Liverpool are expected to accept and let Jones go. Inter’s recent decision to pay Tottenham €35m for Djed Spence has become an informal reference point for what they are willing to spend on a player they really want.
Liverpool had initially set a higher bar. The club valued their homegrown midfielder closer to €40m earlier in the summer, reflecting both his talent and his status as a locally developed player. Contract reality has shifted that stance. Jones is into the final year of his deal, talks over an extension have stalled, and Liverpool know that figure is unlikely to be met with the clock ticking towards free agency next summer.
That tension sits at the heart of the decision. Jones, capped six times by England, has been at Liverpool since the age of nine and grew up dreaming of Anfield, but he has never fully nailed down a regular starting place. Under Arne Slot last season he often cut a frustrated figure on the fringes, battling for minutes in a crowded midfield.
The arrival of Andoni Iraola has complicated the picture emotionally, if not financially. At his unveiling as head coach, Iraola underlined how important he considered keeping the Toxteth-born midfielder and spoke about wanting a strong local identity in his squad. He sees value in what Jones represents as much as what he produces.
Inter’s determination is forcing Liverpool to confront a harsher calculation. Lose a player with deep roots in the club for nothing in a year, or cash in now at a price below their ideal valuation but in line with a market they have helped define.
For Jones, for Inter, and for Liverpool’s new era under Iraola, the next few days will reveal which matters more: sentiment, identity, or the hard numbers on the table.
