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Liverpool’s summer has already been influenced by speculation around key midfielders like Alexis Mac Allister, and few sagas are proving as irritating for Anfield chiefs as Inter Milan’s pursuit of Curtis Jones.
Inter have now seen two bids rejected for the 25-year-old, both of which fell well short of Liverpool’s valuation.
The Italian side opened with an offer of around €20 million (£17.3 million), only to return with a second proposal worth €25 million (£21.6 million) plus a sell‑on clause. Neither came close to the £35 million price tag Liverpool have set.
From an Anfield perspective, this is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet. Jones is the only Scouser in the current first‑team squad and has eight years of senior experience at the club, making him an important homegrown presence as well as a useful squad option.
With all the leadership leaving this past season, it can be hard to believe that Jones is now a senior player at the club.
With that in mind, Liverpool would prefer to keep him unless both the fee and the player’s stance leave them with little choice.
Now Fabrizio Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, has revealed that Brighton’s sale of Jan Paul Van Hecke’s £52 million move to Tottenham is being used as yet another benchmark for Liverpool:
“Liverpool are following a very English line of reasoning. In England, Van Hecke, who is a very good central defender for Brighton, but he is still a central defender for Brighton, he is not Maradona, was sold to Tottenham a couple of days ago for 52 million pounds plus 20% of the resale value, which means a valuation well over 60 million euros if we factor in the player’s resale value,” Romano said.
“We’re talking about a centre-back whose contract expires in a year.”
“Imagine Curtis Jones, who is also a homegrown player, meaning he’s very useful on English clubs’ lists because he grew up in an English youth academy. So this is a situation that leads Liverpool to make much higher demands than Inter’s valuations.”
The financial key to Inter’s pursuit is expected to be the sale of Davide Frattesi, with Nottingham Forest understood to be preparing a bid that would give the Nerazzurri more room to manoeuvre.
Until that happens – and until their offers reflect Liverpool’s valuation – the Premier League side are likely to remain irritated.