Inter Targets Curtis Jones for Midfield Rebuild
Inter have locked onto Curtis Jones and they are not treating this like a passing fancy.
The Serie A champions have already tested Liverpool’s resolve with a £30 million bid for the midfielder, only to be knocked back, with the Premier League club signalling they want closer to €40m before even thinking about letting an academy product walk out of Anfield. The opening move has been made. The real game now starts.
Chivu’s Hand-Picked Target
This is not a scouting-department whim. It is coach-driven.
Beppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio recently sat down over a strategic dinner with Cristian Chivu, plotting the next phase of Inter’s mercato. Out of that meeting came a clear, specific request: Jones.
Chivu wants a different kind of piece for his midfield puzzle – a disruptive “seventh” option in his preferred system, someone who can break patterns, not just follow them. At 25, with Premier League and European experience but still room to grow, Jones ticks that box for the Romanian.
He also ticks another: availability.
Jones has slipped to the fringes at Liverpool under new manager Andoni Iraola. Once a symbol of the club’s homegrown pathway, he now finds himself watching more than influencing, and frustration has been building on Merseyside. The prospect of a fresh start in Italy, under a coach who has specifically asked for him, is said to appeal. A move to San Siro would not be an unwelcome shock; it would be a reset.
English Invasion in Milan
If Inter get their way, Jones will not walk into an unfamiliar dressing room for long.
The club are already in the final stages of a deal for Manchester City defender John Stones, who is undergoing medical tests in Italy. Bringing in Stones and Jones in the same window would mark a striking English accent to Inter’s summer, a sign of a club confident enough to shop at the very top of the Premier League market.
But before that vision can take shape, reality bites: the midfield is overcrowded and the accounts need balancing.
Midfield Clear-Out Before the Big Swing
Inter’s engine room is packed. Too packed.
Davide Frattesi is the most urgent headache. The Italy international wants out to relaunch a stalled trajectory elsewhere, but Inter have yet to receive an offer that makes sense. His situation hangs over the entire operation: until someone steps up with serious money, he remains an expensive obstacle.
Kristjan Asllani is also on the list of potential departures, a useful squad player but not untouchable in this reshuffle. Ebenezer Akinsanmiro has already gone, joining Monza and freeing up at least a little space and cash.
For Inter’s hierarchy, these exits are not a luxury. They are a prerequisite. Jones cannot arrive until others move on.
Playing the Long Game With Liverpool
Inter know Liverpool’s stance. They also know how a long summer can change minds.
The Italian club are prepared to wait, even into the final weeks of August, betting that time and circumstance will soften Liverpool’s demands. If Jones remains on the margins of Iraola’s plans as the season draws closer, the pressure will not only be financial. There is also the delicate question of how long a club can afford to sideline a homegrown player who has carried its badge since youth level.
Inter believe that tension could eventually tilt the negotiation their way, dragging the asking price down from the initial €40m region into something more manageable.
While the first-team squad tours Hong Kong and Perth, Liverpool’s directors will juggle commercial commitments and squad planning. Inter, by contrast, are keeping their decision-makers in Europe. Marotta and Ausilio will stay close to the phone, intent on keeping dialogue open, probing for any sign of movement from Anfield.
The opening offer has been rejected. The strategy dinner has been held. The midfield clear-out is under way.
Now the question is simple: how long can Liverpool hold the line before Inter’s patience, and Jones’ ambition, force a different answer?
