Inter's Chase for Curtis Jones Hits Liverpool's Price Tag

Inter Milan’s long flirtation with Curtis Jones is running into a hard reality: Liverpool’s price tag.

The Serie A champions have admired the Liverpool midfielder for months, but their pursuit is now close to hitting a wall, with the clubs miles apart on valuation as Jones moves into the final year of his deal at Anfield.

Liverpool are open to selling the 25-year-old this summer rather than risk losing him for nothing in 12 months. That stance has encouraged suitors across Europe, and Inter moved early. They first tried to prise him away in January, testing the waters with a loan offer including an option to buy. Liverpool didn’t blink. The proposal was flatly rejected.

Inter did not walk away. They stayed at the table, kept the dialogue going and, in recent weeks, returned with a firm bid. Their offer: €25million, around £21.7m. Liverpool’s response was again uncompromising. No.

The Premier League club value Jones closer to £35m, a figure that instantly stretches Inter’s carefully managed budget. The gap is not a minor one, and Inter’s hierarchy has started to acknowledge it publicly.

“I’ve never denied that we like Curtis Jones,” sporting director Piero Ausilio said. “He has the qualities that could give us something extra. But there’s a significant gap between our valuation and Liverpool’s.

“Liverpool have every right to ask for what they believe is a fair price, and we have every right to decide whether that works for us or not. As things stand, I’d say it’s very difficult.”

Those are not the words of a club expecting a deal to suddenly fall into place. They sound like a door closing, or at least swinging close to shut.

Jones’s situation adds another layer. With his contract running down, he sits at a crossroads in his Liverpool career, yet not every option appeals. He is believed not to be keen on a move to Nottingham Forest, despite Forest’s search for midfield reinforcements after Elliot Anderson’s blockbuster £116m switch to Manchester City.

Forest’s interest underlines that there is a market for Jones in the Premier League, but the player’s own preferences will shape where he lands. Aston Villa and Arsenal have also been linked during this window, clubs with European ambitions and defined playing identities that may better fit his aspirations.

For now, the standoff is clear. Liverpool are holding firm on a premium price for a homegrown midfielder they still rate. Inter see a player they like, but not at any cost.

Unless someone blinks, Jones’s next move may come not from Milan, but from closer to home in England’s top tier.