Inter Turns Up Heat on Liverpool for Curtis Jones

Inter have drawn a clear line through their summer plans, and it runs straight from Liverpool to San Siro with Curtis Jones’ name on it.

The Serie A champions have already tested Liverpool’s resolve with a £30 million offer for the midfielder, a bid swiftly rejected as the Premier League club dig in for a fee closer to €40m for their academy product. For now, Anfield is holding its ground. Inter are betting that time will erode that stance.

Chivu’s hand-picked target

This is not a scattergun pursuit. This is Cristian Chivu putting his thumb on the scale.

At a recent strategic dinner with president Beppe Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio, the new Inter head coach made his request clear: Jones is the midfielder he wants to complete his puzzle. Chivu is looking for a very specific profile — a disruptive, seventh option in his preferred system, someone who can break rhythm, press aggressively and still offer quality on the ball. In his eyes, the 25-year-old Englishman ticks every box.

Jones’ situation on Merseyside has opened the door. Pushed to the fringes under new manager Andoni Iraola, the midfielder has grown increasingly unhappy with his role. Minutes have dried up. Influence has waned. A player once earmarked as a long-term pillar of Liverpool’s midfield now looks like an expendable asset.

Italy, and Inter in particular, appeal. Jones is understood to be open to a move and would welcome the chance to reset his career at San Siro, in a side built to compete deep into the Champions League and dominate domestically.

He would not walk into an English-speaking vacuum either. John Stones is already on his way, with Inter finalising a deal for the Manchester City defender, who is undergoing medical tests in Italy. Two England internationals arriving in the same window would send a strong signal about Inter’s ambitions and pulling power.

Midfield logjam demands sacrifices

Ambition, though, must wrestle with arithmetic.

Inter’s midfield is crowded. Before they can bring Jones in, they need to clear space — and raise cash. The club hierarchy knows it. The dressing room knows it.

Davide Frattesi sits at the heart of that problem. The Italy international wants out to revive a career that has stalled in Milan, yet Inter have not received an offer that matches their valuation. His situation is becoming a slow-burning dilemma: too valuable to discard cheaply, too restless to ignore.

Behind him, the trimming has already begun. Youngster Ebenezer Akinsanmiro has joined Monza, a first step in lightening the load. Kristjan Asllani is also on the list of players Inter are prepared to move on, another potential departure needed to unlock the Jones deal.

For Marotta and Ausilio, shifting these pieces is no longer optional. It is the only way to create both the squad room and financial margin required to go back to Liverpool with a proposal that might actually land.

Inter’s waiting game

So Inter wait. But this is calculated waiting, not hesitation.

The Italian champions are prepared to drag this pursuit into late August, convinced that the pressure will gradually swing in their favour. Liverpool, they believe, will have to confront an awkward reality: keep a homegrown player on the sidelines, frustrated and marginalised, or soften their demands before the window closes.

From Inter’s perspective, every week that passes with Jones stuck on the periphery under Iraola nudges the situation towards compromise. They are banking on that tension — between Liverpool’s valuation and the player’s status — to eventually crack.

While the first-team squad criss-crosses the globe on a pre-season tour through Hong Kong and Perth, the real battle for Jones will be fought in quieter rooms. Marotta and Ausilio are staying in Europe, focused on one task: maintain direct, constant contact with Liverpool and be ready to strike the moment the numbers align.

Inter have chosen their target, their timing and their tactic. Now the question is simple: who blinks first, Liverpool or a club that has made a habit of getting its man?