Inter Milan Pursues Curtis Jones as Liverpool Holds Firm
Inter Milan have come back for Curtis Jones. Harder, and this time with money that demands an answer.
The Serie A champions have returned to the table with a proposal worth £30 million ($40.5 million), reopening negotiations with Liverpool for the midfielder they have tracked all year. The offer edges closer to Liverpool’s valuation, but still falls short of the £35 million ($47.2 million) price tag the club have placed on the 23-year-old.
For now, the Reds are not blinking.
Inter won’t go away
Inter’s interest is not new, nor is it casual. They first made their move in January, only to be told Liverpool would not sanction any departures so late in the winter window, according to the Liverpool Echo. The message then was clear: wrong time, wrong window.
They tried again early last month with a bid of around £21 million ($28.3 million). Liverpool dismissed it almost out of hand, viewing the gap between that figure and their own valuation as too wide to make serious negotiation worthwhile.
That could have been the end of it. Instead, agents working on Inter’s behalf have quietly reopened the channel, signalling a readiness from the Italian side to push their offer up towards Liverpool’s demands. The £30 million proposal is the first concrete sign of that shift.
The pressure is starting to build.
Liverpool’s stance: firm price, open question
Jones has just one year left on his current deal. That alone gives this story an edge. Lose him now and Liverpool bank a sizeable fee. Keep him, and they risk watching a homegrown asset edge towards free agency.
Inside Anfield, the line remains consistent: £35 million or nothing. Liverpool have been holding firm at that figure for the city-centre-born midfielder, and the decision now rests with sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola. Do they cash in, or do they double down on a player who has grown up with the club?
Jones is not a fringe figure in terms of service. Since making his debut in January 2019, he has amassed 228 appearances in all competitions, a body of work that underpins Liverpool’s valuation. Yet he has also been chasing something more elusive than minutes off the bench: the status of undisputed starter.
That desire for consistent first-team football is precisely what makes Inter’s interest so potent.
Iraola’s plea for continuity
Amid the noise, Iraola has been clear about where he stands. Earlier this month, he spoke openly about his hope of keeping Jones on Merseyside and securing a new contract.
“I will have the chance to speak with him today,” he said. “I rate Curtis very highly. For me he is a great, great player and I hope he can continue with us and continue performing the way he has been performing.
“It’s very important that he’s scouse, that he’s from here. I also like the personality. From the outside at least he looks like a player with good character and I hope we can keep him, not only for this year but for more time.”
That is not the language of a coach preparing to lose a key squad member. It is the language of a manager who sees Jones not just as a useful midfielder, but as part of the club’s identity.
A tug-of-war with a deadline
This is where the tension lies. Inter sense opportunity: a technically gifted, tactically flexible midfielder entering the final year of his contract, with ambitions of playing a leading role at the highest level. Liverpool see something else: a local lad with 228 games behind him, still short of his peak, who can anchor a new era under Iraola.
The numbers are close enough now to make everyone uncomfortable. £30 million on the table. £35 million the line in the sand. One year left on the deal.
Something has to give – the fee, the contract, or the player.
