Curtis Jones Transfer to Inter: Liverpool's Midfield Gamble
Curtis Jones has never been the undisputed heartbeat of a Liverpool side. Not like Steven Gerrard, not like Jordan Henderson. Yet the idea of the last Scouser in the squad walking away at 25 still lands like a punch to the gut.
That moment now feels imminent.
Jones to Inter: the end of a long road
On Monday, Fabrizio Romano delivered his familiar three-word verdict on X: “here we go”. Behind that catchphrase sits a deal that would take Jones from the city he joined as a nine-year-old to the champions of Italy.
Inter are understood to have agreed an initial €30m fee with Liverpool, with a further €4m–€5m in add-ons. In sterling, that’s roughly £30m up front plus up to £4.3m in bonuses. Gianluca Di Marzio has put the overall package at €35m, while La Gazzetta dello Sport report €30m plus €5m and claim an “official announcement is expected in the next few hours”.
A medical is already “being planned”, according to Romano. The deal is not signed off yet, with the ECHO and James Pearce of The Athletic both stressing that no final agreement has been reached. But the direction of travel is clear. Inside the club, Jones’ exit is now being treated as the likeliest outcome.
It would close a curious Liverpool chapter. Once billed as the academy jewel of the Klopp era, Jones morphed from mercurial No.10 and winger into a press-resistant, hard-running No.8. He covered three midfield roles, fought his way back from injuries and, in Arne Slot’s final season, even filled in as an auxiliary right-back.
He never quite became the player many imagined when he first burst into the fringes of Klopp’s great side. He did, though, become reliable cover in several positions for a squad that now looks worryingly thin.
Liverpool’s midfield gamble
And that’s where the anxiety kicks in. Because Liverpool, for now, do not plan to replace him.
Journalist David Lynch has said, via Anfield Index, that there is “close to zero chance” of Liverpool going into the market for a direct replacement. Instead, 19-year-old Trey Nyoni is expected to be promoted as the fourth-choice central midfielder.
Nyoni’s rise is a bold call. Behind Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, who both dipped below their best last season, Liverpool are leaning heavily on youth and internal solutions. Wataru Endo offers a more defensive option, while James McConnell’s proposed loan to Preston North End has been put “on hold” – a pause that looks increasingly like a hedge against losing another homegrown squad player.
Stefan Bajcetic, once seen as a key part of the future, has trained on an individual programme throughout pre-season and is attracting interest from Getafe. His short-term involvement looks unlikely.
The picture behind them is just as improvised. New loanee Ronald Araujo played six times at right-back for Barcelona last season and is regarded as a strong one-v-one defender in wide areas. Jeremy Jacquet and Joe Gomez can both shuffle across to cover Jeremie Frimpong in Conor Bradley’s absence, while Calvin Ramsay remains on the books despite talk of a loan.
Put bluntly, Liverpool are trying to solve several problems at once without entering a market they clearly feel is hostile – especially for homegrown players. The club already face the prospect of leaving multiple non-homegrown players out of their Champions League squad under UEFA rules. Replacing Jones with another overseas signing only deepens that headache.
Names like Adam Wharton have inevitably surfaced. Wharton sparked renewed speculation after winning an eBay auction for a signed Gerrard Istanbul 2005 shirt, but the reality is harsher: homegrown midfielders of the right level are either too expensive or not the right fit for Andoni Iraola’s plans.
Vinny O’Connor of Sky Sports has suggested “you would expect a replacement to be brought in” if Jones goes. That expectation is not currently backed up by concrete movement. The market is thin, Liverpool’s price tolerance is low, and the clock is ticking.
The risk is obvious: a midfield already short on proven top-end form could enter the new season weaker, more inexperienced and one injury away from another year of improvisation.
Quansah, Guehi and a near-miss
Liverpool have already lived this kind of gamble once since their 20th league title. The Marc Guehi saga remains the clearest example.
Last summer, Liverpool thought they had a deal in place with Crystal Palace for the England centre-back, only for Steve Parish to pull the plug on deadline day while Guehi was undergoing his medical. By January, Guehi was a Manchester City player – and for a lower fee than Liverpool had originally agreed.
Guehi’s wage demands in the winter window were reportedly beyond what Liverpool were willing to pay. The real misstep came earlier: sanctioning Jarell Quansah’s sale to Bayer Leverkusen before the Guehi transfer was nailed down.
Quansah, one of the most promising young defenders in the Premier League, left for a fee that now looks like a steal. Liverpool then staggered through the season with just two senior centre-backs, both often out of form, walking a fitness tightrope.
The oddest part of that deal? Liverpool pre-negotiated a buy-back clause that can be triggered either this summer or next, with the fee believed to drop in 12 months’ time. It was a sale that always looked like a loan in disguise, raising questions over how much real financial benefit the club gained.
This summer, Quansah’s form in Germany has been quietly parked to one side. Jeremy Jacquet has arrived, Giovanni Leoni is back fit, and Araujo has joined on loan. The buy-back has not been activated.
Then came the scare. Last week, Sky Sports and The Athletic both reported that Arsenal were in discussions to sign Quansah, just a year after he left Anfield. The prospect of the Warrington-born defender lining up for a direct rival so soon after his departure was a nightmare scenario.
Now, Liverpool may have been spared. Sky Sports report Arsenal are “in advanced talks” for Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa, a right-sided centre-back who, like Quansah, can also cover at right-back. Arsenal have been linked with Konsa for weeks, and their public flirtation with Quansah may well have been leverage to soften Villa’s £60m valuation.
Whatever the motivation, the immediate danger has eased. Quansah to a Premier League rival looks off the table for now, and the route back to Anfield remains open if Liverpool decide to reverse a decision that already looks short-sighted.
Aranda on the radar as Liverpool scour South America
While the first team juggles exits, clauses and squad limits, the recruitment department continues to cast its net in South America.
After securing a deal earlier this summer for Colombian attacking midfielder Samuel Martinez – who will join up with the squad in a year – Liverpool have been linked with another teenage talent: Tomas Aranda of Boca Juniors.
According to El Crack Deportivo, Liverpool are among a cluster of clubs “courting the services” of the 19-year-old, who can operate as an attacking midfielder or from the left. Aranda has a $20m (£14.7m) release clause and has produced one goal and three assists in 19 games in Argentina this season.
The numbers are modest, but the endorsement is not. Boca president Juan Roman Riquelme, a legend in Aranda’s position, reportedly considers him a “great gem” and “doesn’t want to know” about losing him. El Intransigente report that a bid close to that release clause could force Boca into a “difficult decision”.
Chelsea are given top billing in both reports, with Liverpool described as “following” Aranda “closely”. Inter, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, the City Football Group, Parma, Como, and Brazilian sides Corinthians and Sao Paulo are all mentioned as admirers.
This is the market Liverpool increasingly want to live in. Cut out the middlemen, find elite potential before it explodes in value. Martinez, Mor Talla Ndiaye, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Rio Ngumoha and Nyoni all fit that pattern.
The club have also been linked with Tijuana’s 17-year-old playmaker Gilberto Mora, who caught the eye at the World Cup with Mexico this summer. The direction is unmistakable: buy earlier, develop in-house, accept the risk.
Ndukwe, Gakpo and a Saudi subplot
That approach extends to the next steps for some of those prospects. Various outlets report that Ifeanyi Ndukwe is close to joining Levante on a season-long loan. The Austria Vienna academy graduate impressed at centre-back for Liverpool in pre-season and now looks set for a crucial year in LaLiga.
Playing in a Band 1 domestic league will help Ndukwe accumulate the points needed for a UK work permit under post-Brexit rules. The move is not yet confirmed, but Levante are “understood to be at the front of the queue as things stand”, according to Paul Gorst.
Higher up the food chain, Tottenham Hotspur’s late-window push could yet test Liverpool’s resolve. Sky Sports say Spurs want three attackers before the deadline, with Cody Gakpo among their leading targets.
Spurs are also keen on Savinho for the opposite flank and want a centre-forward, with Omar Marmoush on their list. Pedro Neto is viewed as an alternative if they cannot land Gakpo. The north London club are said to be “waiting for Liverpool to sign Bradley Barcola and – potentially – his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Ibrahim Mbaye before they bid for Gakpo on top of Savinho.”
For now, that is a chain of hypotheticals. But it underlines how quickly Liverpool’s attacking depth could be tested if they sanction one big sale on top of Jones’ exit.
In Saudi Arabia, Darwin Nunez’s namesake is on the move. The forward is set to join Al Diriyah on loan from Al Hilal after being frozen out last season. He had been expected to sign for Trabzonspor, where Mohamed Salah now plays, but that switch collapsed. Nunez will stay in the Saudi Pro League for at least another year, with Sacha Tavolieri reporting that Al Diriyah’s willingness to cover 75% of his wages proved decisive.
Endrick and the rumour mill’s wildest loop
Not every link deserves a second glance. Endrick to Liverpool is a case in point.
On paper, it fits. Liverpool need more options on the right and through the middle, and the Brazilian teenager already has top-level experience and enormous upside. In reality, the story collapses under the slightest scrutiny.
The rumour surfaced on Madrid Universal, a Real Madrid fan site that aggregates transfer stories. Citing Mundo Deportivo, it claimed Endrick is on the fringes at Madrid after the arrivals of Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi, and that Liverpool have registered interest in either a €65m (£55.7m) permanent deal or a loan.
Mundo Deportivo, in turn, referenced “the English press, specifically Livescore”. Livescore’s piece was actually a republished article from Anfield Watch, which itself leaned on an unsourced report from Fichajes – a regular in the nonsense column.
Fichajes then added a flourish: “Jose Mourinho is counting on the player for the upcoming 2026-27 season, although his future will depend on the attacker's own decision.” The problem is that Endrick’s decision has already been reported. Last week, The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana revealed that the player, the club and the head coach had agreed he would stay and “fight for his place” at Madrid.
Fichajes even acknowledge this, noting that Endrick has “maintained over the last few weeks his intention of competing for minutes in Madrid” and that “just a few days ago, the situation pointed to him staying after Mourinho and sporting leadership opted to keep him in the squad.”
What they never explain is how that situation has changed – or why it justifies a fresh round of headlines. It doesn’t. But that’s the point. The rumour mill feeds on loops like this, each outlet citing the next until fiction starts to look like fact.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are dealing with very real decisions. Let the last Scouser go. Trust a teenager to fill the gap. Keep the buy-back powder dry on a centre-back who might yet return. Chase the next Aranda or Mora before someone else does.
The window is closing fast. The squad that emerges on the other side will say everything about how much risk Liverpool are willing to carry into a season that cannot afford another misstep.
