Inter Target Curtis Jones as Key Midfield Addition

Inter have locked onto Curtis Jones as their next midfield pillar – and they’re not backing off easily.

The Serie A champions have already tested Liverpool’s resolve with a £30 million bid for the 25-year-old, only to see it swiftly rejected. Liverpool, according to Gazzetta, want closer to €40m before they even think about letting an academy product walk out of Anfield.

For Inter, that price is steep. For Cristian Chivu, it’s worth the fight.

Chivu’s “seventh man”

This isn’t a casual enquiry. Inter’s hierarchy – president Beppe Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio – recently sat down over a strategic dinner with Chivu to map out the next phase of their mercato. Jones was not a name on a long list. He was the name.

Chivu has asked specifically for the Liverpool midfielder to plug a very particular gap in his system. He wants a disruptive “seventh option” in midfield, someone who can break patterns, press aggressively, and still offer composure on the ball. In his eyes, Jones ticks every box.

On Merseyside, the picture looks very different. Under new manager Andoni Iraola, Jones has slipped to the fringes, his minutes shrinking, his role blurring. A player once seen as part of Liverpool’s future now finds himself parked behind others in the pecking order.

The frustration has grown. So has the temptation.

Jones is understood to be open to a move, and the idea of a fresh start in Italy – at San Siro, in a side built to dominate the ball – is one he would welcome.

English core in Milan

If Inter get their way, Jones would not arrive alone. The club are already closing in on another Premier League import: John Stones.

The Manchester City defender is in Italy undergoing medical tests as Inter move to finalise a deal, a statement signing that underlines their ambition to refresh a title-winning squad without losing its edge. An English centre-back and an English midfielder, both with Champions League pedigree, anchoring a new cycle in Milan – it’s a bold vision.

But before Jones can join that project, Inter have a problem to solve in the middle of the pitch.

Midfield logjam

Inter’s midfield is crowded. Too crowded for another major arrival without exits.

Davide Frattesi sits at the centre of that dilemma. The Italy international wants out, desperate to reignite a stalled career with regular football elsewhere. Inter are willing to sell, but suitable offers have yet to land on Marotta’s desk.

Kristjan Asllani is also on the list of likely departures, a player the club rate but view as expendable in the current reshuffle. Ebenezer Akinsanmiro has already gone, joining Monza as Inter quietly clear space and raise funds.

Moving these fringe and frustrated names on is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite. Without that room – financially and in the dressing room – Jones cannot come.

Inter’s waiting game

So Inter wait. And they calculate.

The plan is clear: drag this pursuit into late August and see who blinks first. Inter believe that time is their ally, not Liverpool’s.

From their point of view, Liverpool face an awkward scenario. Keep a homegrown player on the sidelines, with his value and morale both dipping, or accept a slightly lower fee and move on. Inter are betting that the Premier League club will eventually choose pragmatism over principle.

While Liverpool jet across Hong Kong and Perth on their pre-season tour, building Iraola’s new era in front of packed stadiums, the real negotiation work will be done thousands of miles away. Marotta and Ausilio are staying in Europe, phones on, lines open, ready to pounce on any softening of Liverpool’s stance.

For now, Jones remains a Liverpool player, an academy graduate caught between a shrinking role at Anfield and the promise of a central one at San Siro.

Inter are convinced that, as the deadline creeps closer and the pressure tightens, that balance will tilt their way. The question is not whether they want him badly enough.

It’s whether Liverpool are prepared to fight just as hard to keep him.