Curtis Jones Set for Inter Move as Liverpool Faces Midfield Gamble
For the first time in a long time, Liverpool are staring at a future without a Scouser in the side. Curtis Jones, the kid who walked into the academy at nine and grew into the face of the club’s homegrown hopes, is on the verge of walking out for good.
That exit could be confirmed as soon as today.
Fabrizio Romano has already dropped his trademark “here we go” on X, with multiple outlets in Italy backing him up. Inter are understood to have agreed a deal worth an initial €30m for the 25-year-old, with a further €4m–€5m in add-ons (€35m total, roughly £34.3m). Jones has committed to joining the Italian champions, and a medical is being lined up.
Gianluca Di Marzio detailed the structure of the fee, while La Gazzetta dello Sport went a touch higher on the bonuses and claimed an “official announcement is expected in the next few hours”. Closer to home, the ECHO and James Pearce at The Athletic both report that a deal is close but not yet fully signed off.
It feels like a matter of when, not if.
The last Scouser and a big hole in midfield
Jones’ Liverpool career has always been a strange one to judge. He never quite became the star many imagined when he first burst into the fringes of Jürgen Klopp’s great side as a teenager, yet his departure still lands like a punch to the gut.
Part of that is emotional. He is the local lad from Toxteth who tamed his street‑football instincts to become a press-resistant No. 8, the academy poster boy who grew into a trusted squad man. Part of it is cold, tactical reality. Liverpool are short in exactly the areas Jones has quietly propped up for months.
He has covered all three central midfield roles, pushed and clawed for minutes, and even finished last season as a capable auxiliary right-back under Arne Slot. Now, what looks like his final campaign at Anfield is being re-framed as the bridge to a riskier future.
Because the plan, at this stage, is not to replace him.
Journalist David Lynch has said, via Anfield Index, that based on his information there is “close to zero chance” Liverpool bring in a direct replacement. The club are instead prepared to promote 19-year-old Trey Nyoni as fourth-choice central midfielder.
It is a bold call. Some would say reckless.
Wataru Endo remains the more defensive option in the middle. James McConnell’s proposed loan to Preston North End has been put “on hold”, potentially to keep the 21-year-old around as another homegrown body. Stefan Bajcetic, though, is unlikely to feature in the short term after working on an individual programme throughout pre-season and now drawing interest from Getafe.
Behind them, the defensive jigsaw has also been re-cut. New loanee Ronald Araujo played six times at right-back for Barcelona last season and is rated highly in one-v-one wide duels. Jeremy Jacquet and Joe Gomez can both cover Jeremie Frimpong while Conor Bradley is out, and Calvin Ramsay remains at the club despite talk of a loan.
On paper, Liverpool can shuffle enough pieces to avoid buying another midfielder. The reality is messier. Replacing a homegrown player is complicated by UEFA’s non-homegrown quotas for the Champions League, with the club already braced to leave out several overseas players. That factor alone changes the profile and price of any potential signing.
Names like Adam Wharton inevitably surface. The England youngster, who reignited speculation after winning an eBay auction for a signed Steven Gerrard Istanbul 2005 shirt, would tick the homegrown box but may not fit either the budget or Andoni Iraola’s exact needs.
Still, walking into a new season without a like-for-like replacement for Jones is a clear gamble. Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch carried heavy loads last year, Nyoni is untested, and the margin for error in the Premier League is shrinking by the window.
Sky Sports’ Vinny O’Connor has taken a different line, suggesting “you would expect a replacement to be brought in” if Jones goes. Right now, though, there are few obvious options at a price Liverpool are likely to consider reasonable. The danger is obvious: another summer where a key area ends up weaker, not stronger.
Liverpool’s Quansah mistake may not haunt them – yet
If Jones’ exit feels like an unnecessary risk, the Jarell Quansah situation has already been branded a full-blown misstep inside and outside the club.
The clearest example of Liverpool weakening themselves after their 20th league title came with the Marc Guehi saga. A deal was agreed with Crystal Palace, only for Steve Parish to pull the plug on deadline day while the defender was undergoing his medical. Guehi then rocked up at Manchester City in January for a lower fee than Liverpool had originally put on the table, with wage demands reportedly beyond what the Reds were willing to pay.
The real issue, though, was what happened before that collapse. Liverpool sanctioned Quansah’s sale while the Guehi transfer was still far from secure. They allowed one of the Premier League’s most promising young centre-backs to leave for Bayer Leverkusen for a fee that already looks like a steal – then failed to properly replace him, leaving themselves with two senior, often out-of-form centre-backs for long stretches of the season.
The deal was baffling on another front. Liverpool inserted a buy-back clause that can be activated this summer or next, effectively pre-negotiating Quansah’s return. It raised the obvious question: how much financial sense does it make to sell a player only to pay a premium to bring him back?
With Jeremy Jacquet signed, Giovanni Leoni returning to fitness and Araujo arriving on loan, Liverpool parked the Quansah discussion this summer. His form in Germany has been excellent, but the buy-back fee is believed to drop in value next year. The logic, if there is any, is long-term.
Then came the twist. Arsenal were widely and credibly reported by Sky Sports and The Athletic to be in talks over a move for Quansah just 12 months after his Anfield exit. The prospect of a homegrown, high-ceiling centre-back returning to England at a direct rival, while Liverpool sat on a buy-back clause, threatened to turn an awkward story into a full-blown embarrassment.
That storm may now be passing. Sky Sports report that Arsenal are “in advanced talks” for Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, who also favours the right side and can cover at right-back. The London club have been linked with Konsa for weeks, so the Quansah noise may have been a negotiating tactic aimed at driving down Villa’s £60m valuation.
Whatever the motive, the immediate danger of Quansah pitching up at the Emirates appears to have eased. The door for a Liverpool return, either next summer or beyond, remains open.
Whether the club walk through it is another question entirely.
Liverpool tracking Boca talent Aranda and more South American prospects
While the first team wrestle with departures and buy-backs, Liverpool’s recruitment department continues to push deeper into South America.
Earlier in the summer, the club secured a deal for Colombian attacking midfielder Samuel Martinez, who will only link up with his new team-mates next year. Now, attention has turned to Argentina.
El Crack Deportivo report that Liverpool are among a cluster of clubs “courting” Boca Juniors youngster Tomas Aranda. The 19-year-old can play as an attacking midfielder or off the left and carries a $20m (£14.7m) release clause.
Aranda’s numbers this season – one goal and three assists in 19 games – are modest, but inside Boca he is viewed very differently. Club president Juan Roman Riquelme, who knows a thing or two about the position, has labelled him a “great gem” and, according to the report, “doesn’t want to know” about the idea of losing him.
Pressure is building all the same. Chelsea feature prominently in the coverage, with El Intransigente backing up their interest. Liverpool are said to be “following” Aranda “closely”, alongside Inter, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, the City Group, Parma, Como and Brazilian sides Corinthians and Sao Paulo.
Boca’s stance is clear: they do not want to sell. But El Intransigente suggest that a bid close to the release clause could force an uncomfortable decision in Buenos Aires.
This is exactly the type of market Liverpool have leaned into recently. By going directly to source – see Martinez, Mor Talla Ndiaye, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Rio Ngumoha and Nyoni – the club avoid paying inflated fees to “stepping-stone” European clubs. The link to Tijuana’s 17-year-old playmaker Gilberto Mora, who impressed at the World Cup for Mexico this summer, fits the same pattern.
Loans, Spurs circling Gakpo and Darwin’s Saudi shuffle
Away from the headline names, Liverpool’s wider squad is also on the move.
Multiple outlets report that Ifeanyi Ndukwe is set to join Levante on a season-long loan. The Austria Vienna academy graduate caught the eye at centre-back in pre-season, and a spell in LaLiga’s Band 1 domestic environment will help him collect the points needed to secure a UK work permit under post-Brexit rules. Paul Gorst has outlined the details, with Levante “understood to be at the front of the queue” and the move still to be finalised.
Over in north London, Tottenham are loading up for a late-window attacking spree. Sky Sports say Spurs want three forwards before the deadline, with Cody Gakpo high on their list. Alongside Savinho for the opposite flank, they are also in the market for a centre-forward, with Omar Marmoush among the names under consideration. Pedro Neto is viewed as an alternative if Gakpo cannot be prised away.
The dynamic is tangled. Spurs are said to be “waiting for Liverpool to sign Bradley Barcola and – potentially – his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Ibrahim Mbaye before they move for Gakpo on top of Savinho.” A lot of dominoes would need to fall for that chain reaction to hit Anfield.
In Saudi Arabia, Darwin Nunez’s future has taken another twist. The forward is set to join Al Diriyah on loan from Al Hilal after being frozen out at last season’s league runners-up. He had been expected to join Mohamed Salah at Trabzonspor, but that move collapsed. Instead, he stays in the Saudi Pro League for at least another year, with Sacha Tavolieri reporting that Al Diriyah’s willingness to cover 75% of his wages played a key role.
Endrick noise exposes the rumour mill at its worst
On paper, Endrick to Liverpool makes a strange kind of sense. The Brazilian can play off the right or through the middle, has Champions League experience and sky-high potential. Liverpool need depth in both roles.
The story behind the link, though, is pure fiction.
The trail begins at Madrid Universal, a Real Madrid fan site that aggregates stories about the club’s players and targets. They cite Mundo Deportivo, who claim Endrick is struggling for minutes in a stacked Madrid squad following the arrivals of Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi, and that Liverpool have registered interest in either a €65m (£55.7m) permanent deal or a loan.
Mundo Deportivo then point to “the English press, specifically Livescore”. Livescore’s piece, it turns out, is a republished article from Anfield Watch, which in turn is based on an unsourced claim from Fichajes – a regular in the nonsense column.
From there, the story collapses in on itself. Fichajes insist “Jose Mourinho is counting on the player for the upcoming 2026-27 season, although his future will depend on the attacker's own decision.” The problem? That decision has already been made public.
Last week, The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana reported that Endrick will stay in Madrid and “fight for his place”, a stance agreed by “the player, the club and head coach”. Fichajes even acknowledge this, writing that Endrick “has maintained over the last few weeks his intention of competing for minutes in Madrid” and that “just a few days ago, the situation pointed to him staying”.
What they never do is explain what has changed. Because nothing has.
And that is how a non-story – without a fresh decision, without a new conversation, without a single concrete development – mutates into a headline about Liverpool “moving” for Endrick.
The rumour mill keeps spinning. The question for Liverpool now is whether, by the time the window shuts, they have spun themselves into a squad light on depth, short on homegrown quality and missing a Scouser who once looked like the future.
