Inter Milan Intensifies Pursuit of Curtis Jones Amid Liverpool Negotiations

Inter Milan’s pursuit of Curtis Jones has moved from background noise to a drumbeat Liverpool can no longer ignore.

What began as a series of rejected offers has grown into a live, finely balanced negotiation – with the player increasingly ready to push for the move and the Italian champions convinced the timing is finally right.

Inter refuse to walk away

Inter’s interest dates back to January, when they first tested Liverpool’s resolve. The answer then was a firm no. The same response followed this summer when a €25m bid landed on Anfield’s desk.

That figure, Inter briefed, was their ceiling. Jones has only 12 months left on his deal, and the Italians felt the offer reflected both risk and opportunity.

Liverpool disagreed. Internally, they have pegged Jones’ value at closer to €35m (£30m), a price they believe still represents strong value for a 23-year-old with Premier League experience and homegrown status.

Yet the story hasn’t ended with that rejection. Intermediaries have kept the lines open, probing for a compromise. The new working number is around €30m, a restructured package that could finally crack the stalemate.

Inside Anfield, there is a growing sense that Liverpool might bend if the talks keep moving in this direction. Not a fire sale, not a giveaway – but a pragmatic call at the right price.

Iraola’s clear message: decide quickly

New head coach Andoni Iraola complicates the picture, but only slightly.

He rates Jones. That much is clear. The midfielder is a product of Liverpool’s academy, understands the club, and offers tactical flexibility Iraola values.

Yet Iraola has also been blunt behind closed doors: if Jones is going, he wants it done early. No late-window saga, no last-minute scramble to replace him. Clarity now, or commitment for the season.

That stance puts pressure on all sides. Either Inter find the money and structure Liverpool can accept, or Jones stays and must re-establish himself under a new manager with no contract talks currently on the table.

Because that is another key detail. There are no active negotiations over a new deal for Jones. For a player entering his final year, that silence is deafening and only fuels the sense that this summer might be the natural breaking point.

Jones, for his part, is understood to be open to the move. Inter offer a fresh start, Champions League football, and a leading role in a side that has already persuaded John Stones to cross the Channel. The prospect of becoming their second England international of the window is a powerful lure.

Armband flashpoint adds fuel

All of this played out against the backdrop of what should have been a routine pre-season outing: a win over Wrexham.

Instead, the post-match conversation centred on a brief but telling flashpoint involving Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Kostas Tsimikas.

Sources close to Liverpool acknowledge there was a disagreement after the final whistle. The trigger, as understood, was simple enough: when Szoboszlai was substituted and needed to pass on the captain’s armband, he handed it to Tsimikas rather than Jones.

It was a small decision, but it cut deep. Jones, already facing uncertainty over his future and status, was left frustrated.

Liverpool have been quick to play down the incident, stressing it is not seen as a major dressing-room issue. In isolation, it probably isn’t. These things happen, particularly in pre-season when roles and hierarchies are still being tested.

But context matters. With Inter circling, contract talks dormant and the club weighing up a sizeable offer, even a minor on-field spat becomes another data point in an increasingly complicated picture.

Inter sense their moment

From Milan’s perspective, the pieces are starting to fall into place.

They know Liverpool have a valuation but also a decision to make on a player who could leave for nothing in a year. They know Jones is not closing the door on the move. They see a new coach who wants a swift resolution rather than a drawn-out stand-off.

And they have already landed one headline English signing in Stones. Adding Jones would not only strengthen Simone Inzaghi’s options, it would underline Inter’s growing pull in a market where Premier League clubs are used to dictating terms.

The next few days will tell whether Liverpool hold firm at their number or accept that this is the moment to cash in on a homegrown midfielder entering the final stretch of his deal.

For Jones, the question is just as stark: stay and fight for prominence under Iraola with no new contract in sight, or seize the chance to reinvent himself in Serie A at the heart of a title-chasing side?

Inter believe they know the answer.