Curtis Jones Joins Inter Milan in £30m Deal
Inter Milan have completed the signing of Curtis Jones from Liverpool in a £30m (€35m) deal, drawing a hard line under one of Anfield’s longest-running academy tales.
Liverpool will receive a fixed £25.7m fee, with a further £4.28m tied to add-ons. A 10 per cent sell-on clause has also been written into the agreement.
For Jones, it is the end of a journey that began at the age of nine. For Inter, it is the latest piece in a very deliberate Premier League raid.
Inter’s English influx grows
Jones becomes the third England international to join Inter in this window, following John Stones and Djed Spence into Cristian Chivu’s squad. The Italian side are banking on Premier League-hardened players to fuel another tilt at major honours, and Jones arrives with a decorated CV.
Across 228 appearances for Liverpool’s first team, the 23-year-old scored 22 goals and collected serious silverware: two Premier League titles, two Carabao Cups, the Club World Cup and the FA Cup, along with a Champions League runners-up medal from 2022.
He broke through under Jürgen Klopp in the 2018/19 campaign. By last season he had become a trusted squad piece, featuring 49 times under Arne Slot, 34 of those in a bruising Premier League title defence. He filled multiple roles, sharing midfield duties with Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch and even plugging gaps as a makeshift right-back.
Now he swaps Anfield for San Siro, leaving behind a fanbase that watched him grow from local prospect to serial trophy-winner.
Iraola loses a loyal lieutenant
New Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola wanted to keep him. He made that clear. But Jones had entered the final year of his contract, and the club chose to cash in rather than risk losing him for nothing.
Iraola, though, has not been left empty-handed in midfield. The Basque coach plans to build around Florian Wirtz in a central No 10 role in a 4-2-3-1, which reshapes the battle behind him. Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch are now jostling for two deeper midfield spots in front of the back four.
Wataru Endo remains in the frame as a stabilising option. And then there is Trey Nyoni.
The 19-year-old has impressed heavily in pre-season, enough for Iraola to publicly talk up his chances of stepping into the space Jones has vacated. Nyoni will not replicate Jones’ experience or versatility overnight, but the pathway has rarely been clearer for a young midfielder at Liverpool.
There is also the money. The £30m raised from Jones’ sale gives Liverpool room to move if they decide a direct replacement is needed before the window shuts.
Wide rebuild takes centre stage
The real focus of Liverpool’s summer, though, lies out wide.
The club have already seen two bids knocked back by Brighton for Yankuba Minteh, the latest worth £60m. Their interest is serious, but Brighton are holding firm.
Liverpool are also pursuing Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola. PSG value the France international at a staggering £145m, a figure that underlines both his status and the difficulty of any deal.
Cody Gakpo, meanwhile, has attracted strong interest from Spurs. For now, Liverpool do not want to sell. That stance will be tested if the London club push harder, but at present Gakpo remains central to Iraola’s plans.
Jones’ departure does not change that strategy. It simply sharpens the club’s need to get their wide business right, because they have now lost a player who could plug gaps across the pitch.
A farewell steeped in Anfield
Jones marked his exit with a long, emotional message to supporters, staff and team-mates, framing the move as a life chapter closing rather than just a transfer.
“After 16 years, it's time to say goodbye,” he began, before reflecting on arriving as “a kid with a dream” and leaving “as a man with a family of my own”.
He thanked academy staff who had “literally watched me grow up”, every manager and coach for trusting him, and the “physios, medical team, kit staff, chefs, analysts, security, media team, grounds staff and everyone else who makes this place what it is”.
He reserved a line for the dressing room – “I've played with some unbelievable players and made friendships that I know I'll have for life” – and finished with a message to the supporters: “Thank you to the fans that stuck by me and always supported me. I will always be one of you… YNWA.”
It was the sign-off of a player who understands what he is leaving behind.
What Liverpool lose – and what comes next
On the pitch, Liverpool lose a homegrown midfielder who knew the club inside out, could operate in multiple roles and had already lived through title races, cup finals and the unique pressure of an Anfield run-in.
Off it, they lose a symbol of their academy’s ability to feed the first team.
Iraola, though, has clarity. Wirtz will be his creator. Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gravenberch and Endo will scrap for control of the middle. Nyoni has a door wide open. And the recruitment team have £30m more to play with as they chase the wide reinforcements that could define Liverpool’s season.
Jones now walks into a different kind of expectation in Milan, part of an English core tasked with driving Inter forward.
The question is simple: who will Anfield be talking about in May – the boy who left, or the new faces Liverpool gamble on with the money he brought in?
