Curtis Jones’ future continues to be a topic this summer.
Inter Milan have made no secret of their admiration for the 25-year-old, making two attempts to prise him away from Merseyside.
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Their first approach came in the dying hours of the January transfer window, with a proposed loan deal that Liverpool rejected.
The Nerazzurri returned in the summer — this time with a verbal offer of €25 million (£21.7m) — only to be rebuffed again
With his contract set to expire in the summer of 2027, Jones entered this past season with contract renewal talks dragging on and no new deal in sight.
Now new manager Andoni Iraola has made it clear that he wants the midfielder to remain at the club:
“I will have the chance to speak with him today,” Iraola said in the embargoed section of his press conference as quoted by the Liverpool Echo. “I rate Curtis very highly.”
“For me he is a great, great player and I hope he can continue with us and continue performing the way he has been performing.
“It’s very important that he’s Scouse, that he’s from here. I also like the personality.
“From the outside at least he looks like a player with good character and I hope we can keep him, not only for this year but for more time.”
Inter Milan are expected to return for a third bid for the 25-year-old.
Italian media reports of a done deal with Nottingham Forest prompted Jones to respond on social media with a raised-eyebrow emoji.
Inter, Juventus, AC Milan and Galatasaray have all registered varying levels of interest.
Jones is currently the only Scouser in Liverpool’s first-team squad and brings eight years of senior experience at the club, making him both a valuable homegrown option and an important squad presence.
With so much leadership leaving over the past season, it is easy to forget that Jones is now one of the more senior figures in the group.
Because of that, Liverpool would rather keep him, unless the offer on the table and Jones’s own position make it difficult to stand in the way.