Inter Targets Koné and Jones as Chivu Revamps Midfield

Cristian Chivu has not even started pre-season and already the shape of his Inter midfield is being torn up and redrawn.

With Davide Frattesi expected to leave, Inter are moving aggressively on two fronts: Manu Koné of Roma and Curtis Jones of Liverpool. One to anchor the rebuild. One to round it out.

Koné at the heart of the plan

Koné is the priority. That much is clear.

Tuttosport, via CalcioMercato, report that Inter have identified the Frenchman as their main domestic target, a player Chivu believes can give his midfield a different edge. Roma only brought him in from Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer of 2024 for €18 million plus €2 million in bonuses, and he has since become a regular presence in the Giallorossi engine room.

Eighty-one appearances, four goals, six assists. Solid numbers for a midfielder whose game is built more on presence and progression than pure end product.

The obstacle is his contract. Koné is tied to Roma until June 2029 on a net salary of €2.8 million per season. That length of deal usually means strength at the negotiating table. Yet Roma’s need to stay on the right side of financial fair play opens a door that might otherwise be bolted shut.

Inter already tried to walk through it last August and were pushed back. This time, they are ready to return with a different set of keys.

The most intriguing option on the table is a swap. Roma could receive Carlos Augusto and/or Frattesi as part of the package, a move that would immediately plug gaps in their own squad while easing the financial hit. For Inter, it would turn an inevitable departure into a strategic trade, not just a loss.

If that structure lands, both clubs head into the summer with problems solved rather than created.

Jones as the second piece, not the fallback

The story does not stop with Koné.

Tuttosport indicate that even if Inter land the Roma midfielder, the club are still considering a second addition in the middle of the park. That is where Curtis Jones enters the frame.

Jones, under contract at Liverpool until June 2027, earns around €500,000 net per season. For a club operating at Inter’s level, that wage sits comfortably in the books and makes the financial side of any deal relatively simple compared with the Koné operation.

The England international is not being viewed as a like-for-like alternative. He is seen as a complement. A different profile, another layer, a player who can slot into Chivu’s rotation rather than replace the Frenchman in the hierarchy of targets.

Inter’s long-held dream of bringing in Nico Paz has faded, and with it the idea of that particular creative spark in midfield. The response has not been to retreat, but to pivot: Koné as the cornerstone, Jones as the extra angle.

If Inter manage to pull off both moves, Chivu’s first version of the post-Frattesi midfield will look nothing like the one he inherited. And that, for a coach intent on putting his own stamp on this team, is exactly the point.