Inter Steps Up Pursuit of Curtis Jones as Liverpool Faces €35m Dilemma

Inter have come back for Curtis Jones, this time with serious intent and a bid that edges closer to Liverpool’s valuation of their homegrown midfielder.

The Italian champions, rebuffed in June when a €25m offer was dismissed, have now indicated they are ready to go to €35m (£30m) for the 25-year-old, who has only a year left on his deal at Anfield. Intermediaries acting for the Serie A side made fresh contact with Liverpool this week and laid out the improved proposal.

Liverpool still want closer to €40m. That stance has not shifted. But the situation around Jones is no longer straightforward, and everyone involved knows it.

A boyhood Red, a contract ticking down, and a club that cannot afford to lose assets for nothing. The tension writes itself.

Inter push, Liverpool hesitate

Inter’s interest has not cooled since their first approach. If anything, the rejected €25m bid has only sharpened their focus. A versatile midfielder, English, with Champions League and Premier League experience, available at a fee they consider manageable and a contract entering its final year – Jones fits a profile that top Italian clubs have increasingly targeted.

The willingness to rise to €35m is a clear signal. Inter believe there is a deal to be done. They see an opportunity Liverpool have yet to close off.

Liverpool, though, are under no illusion about what Jones represents. He is not just another squad player on a spreadsheet. He is local, developed in their own academy, a symbol of continuity at a time of upheaval.

That is why the club’s valuation has remained firm around the €40m mark. They are pricing in more than minutes played.

Frustration on tour

On the pitch, Jones has struggled to nail down a guaranteed starting role and last season under Arne Slot he often looked like a man stuck between roles and expectations. Used, trusted at times, but never fully established. The frustration showed.

It flared again this week in New York. After Liverpool’s win over Wrexham in a pre-season friendly, Jones was involved in a row with Dominik Szoboszlai, apparently over the captain’s armband. When Szoboszlai was substituted in the second half, Jones expected to take over the responsibility. He didn’t. The disagreement that followed was brief but telling.

For a player who grew up dreaming of leading Liverpool out, being overlooked even in a low-stakes summer game cuts deep. It also underlines why the idea of a fresh start abroad might not feel as far-fetched as it once did.

Iraola’s idealism meets the market

New head coach Andoni Iraola has made no secret of how important he believes Jones and the local core are as he begins his first season in charge. At a club where identity is fiercely guarded, letting a homegrown midfielder go – especially one still entering his prime years – is not a decision taken lightly.

Yet the market has its own logic. Inter are determined. Jones has a year left. Walk him to free agency next summer and Liverpool lose a significant fee, along with the ability to shape his next move.

That is the calculation now facing Anfield: hold firm on principle and risk losing him for nothing, or compromise on the fee and cash in on a player who has never quite become undroppable.

The gap between €35m and €40m is not enormous. The gap between what Jones has been for Liverpool and what he might become elsewhere could be far bigger.

Inter have made their move. The next one belongs to Liverpool – and to a midfielder who may be standing at the last real crossroads of his Anfield career.