Curtis Jones has seemingly given up on his dream of following in Steven Gerrard‘s footsteps at Liverpool after the Reds reached a verbal agreement to send him to Inter Milan
Liverpool and Inter Milan reportedly have a verbal agreement in place regarding Curtis Jones
Liverpool and Inter Milan reportedly have a verbal agreement in place regarding Curtis Jones(Image: Getty Images)
Curtis Jones’ hopes of following in Steven Gerrard‘s footsteps at Liverpool appear to be fading fast as the Reds inch closer to shipping him off.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool and Inter Milan have reached a “verbal agreement” that would send Jones to the Serie A club in a transfer deal worth around $41 million. Inter previously offered $29 million in exchange for Jones’ talents back in June, but the Reds’ price tag for the 25-year-old — who has one year remaining on his current contract — sat closer to $48 million.
It wasn’t long ago that Jones dreamed of spending the entirety of his career at Anfield, where he arrived as a wide-eyed nine-year-old before rising through the ranks at Liverpool’s academy.
Since debuting for the Reds under Jurgen Klopp in 2019, he’s made 228 appearances and won six major trophies, including two Premier League titles, two Carabao Cups, one Emirates FA Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
While coming up through the academy, Jones was taken under the wing of Gerrard, who coached at the under-18 level. “If I could follow him, I mean that would be great,” Jones added.
“I would never complain. I would always have a smile on my face, especially because of who he is in the city and stuff but then how he’s obviously seen in the footballing world.
“If you go and speak with like legends who obviously played the game and [ask] who they wish that they played with or anything like that, they always seem to say him.
Curtis Jones previously expressed his desire to follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool
Curtis Jones previously expressed his desire to follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
“And then players who have obviously played with him and how he was on the training pitch and all things like that, I want to be seen the same way.”
Over a decorated 17-year career at Anfield, Gerrard made 710 appearances and amassed 186 goals while securing the FA Cup, three League Cups, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup.
“It seems like a lot of games but you know, I’m 24, I’ve still got a long way to obviously go,” Jones said of chasing Gerrard’s appearances for the Reds.
“If I could be sat at the end of my time and I’m looking back and it’s six, seven, 800 games, I wish it could be.
“But yeah, you know, I just always think that I have to do everything right to stay fit and do all the right things, and at the end of my career, then I’ll see.”
While Jones has reportedly voiced his interest in pursuing a new challenge at this stage of his career, Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola expressed hope earlier this summer that the midfielder would stick around.
"I rate Curtis very highly," Iraola said. "For me, he is a great, great player, so I hope he can continue with us. I hope he can continue with us, continue performing the way he has been performing.
“And it’s very important he’s Scouse, that he’s also from here. I also like the personality. From the outside at least, he looks like a player with good character, so I hope we can keep him, and not only this year."