Inter Milan's Chase for Curtis Jones Hits Liverpool's Stubborn Stance

Inter Milan’s pursuit of Curtis Jones has run straight into a brick wall of Liverpool resolve – and nobody in Italy can quite believe the size of it.

The Serie A champions have pushed hard for the midfielder, held talks since January, convinced him to say yes to a move, and made him a priority target for this window. Jones, 25, now views his Liverpool career as effectively over and wants San Siro as his next stage.

Yet the deal is stuck. Badly.

Two bids down, a big gap remains

Inter opened the bidding last week with an offer in the region of £18m (€21m, $24m). Liverpool barely blinked before rejecting it.

The Italians came back with an improved package of around £21m (€24m, $28m). Same answer. Same speed. No deal.

Behind the scenes, the message is blunt: the gap between the clubs is still “significant”.

Liverpool have fixed their valuation at around £35m (€40m, $46m). They see no reason to move from it. In a market where Manchester City are prepared to spend more than £120m on Elliot Anderson, Anfield executives believe their price for a homegrown England midfielder is not only fair, but fully in line with the current Premier League economy.

From Liverpool’s side, the logic is clear. Jones is an academy graduate, an England-qualified player in a league where homegrown talent comes with a steep premium, and still regarded internally as a footballer of genuine quality despite entering the final year of his contract.

Inter see it very differently.

Two markets, two realities

Inside the Italian champions’ camp, Liverpool’s stance has raised eyebrows. They cannot understand why a Premier League-inflated valuation should dictate a deal when there is no English bidding war to drive the price up.

Jones has made it clear he wants Italy. Not Newcastle. Not Spurs. Not anyone else in England. That, in Inter’s eyes, removes the usual domestic auction that so often sends English fees spiralling.

They also point to the clock.

With only 12 months left on his contract, Inter believe Liverpool are negotiating from a weaker position than they are willing to admit. To them, the £35m figure belongs to a different context – a longer contract, multiple suitors, or a player more central to the starting XI.

Inter’s idea of “realistic” lies far closer to the mid-20s than the mid-30s.

Jones caught in the middle

Jones and his representatives sit somewhere between the two. They recognise Liverpool’s right to demand a serious fee for a player of his pedigree, but also feel the contract situation has to count for something.

Those close to the negotiations indicate that his camp view a fee below £30m (€34.5m, $46m) as a fair compromise – a number that respects his ability and status, while reflecting that he can walk away for nothing in a year.

That figure aligns far more with Inter’s thinking than Liverpool’s.

What is not in dispute is the player’s intention. Jones is excited by the prospect of joining the reigning Italian champions. He sees Inter as the right step at the right time, a chance to relaunch his career in a league and a system that might suit him better than the new reality at Anfield.

A changing role at Anfield

The feeling around Liverpool is that Jones’ opportunities may remain limited. He started just 18 Premier League games in the 2025/26 campaign and has not been earmarked as a cornerstone of Andoni Iraola’s high-energy approach.

Inside the club, he is respected. But respect has not translated into guaranteed minutes, and there is little expectation that his role will suddenly expand under the new manager.

For a player entering what should be his peak years, that matters. It has only hardened his desire to move.

Inter know this. They have tracked him since January, parked the idea during the winter window, and then circled back with a clearer plan for the summer. They are convinced he wants the transfer and have been constructing their squad with his arrival in mind.

Stalemate, but not the end

Despite the frustration, this is not a dead deal.

Liverpool are open to doing business. They are not trying to force Jones to stay. What they are trying to avoid is an academy product leaving for what they regard as a cut-price fee in a market that pays top dollar for English talent.

Inter, for their part, believe the Premier League bubble should not dictate terms when they are the only serious bidder and the player has one year left on his deal.

So the stand-off continues.

There is a sizeable difference between the valuations, but with Jones committed to the move and Inter intent on pressing ahead, further talks are expected as both sides look for a number they can live with.

Liverpool are already braced for more big departures this summer, with at least one of Arne Slot’s most trusted players attracting heavyweight interest from Tottenham.

Whether Jones becomes the next to walk away – and at what price – may say a lot about how far Premier League power can stretch beyond its own borders.