Inter Milan are set to sign Curtis Jones after making the Scouser their top target for the midfield this summer. Fabrizio Romano announced a breakthrough in the transfer with his 'here we go' seal of authenticity, and various reports in Italy and further afield have stated that Inter have agreed a €30m initial fee for the 25-year-old midfielder, with €4m to €5m in add-ons (£30m + £3.4m to £4.3m). Jones has already committed to joining the Italian champions.
Romano revealed that a medical is already "being planned" for Jones, while Gianluca Di Marzio followed up with details on the structure of the fee. According to Di Marzio, the transfer fee will comprise of €30m up front with €4-5m in add-ons. La Gazzetta dello Sport have gone with €30m+€5m, while claiming that an "official announcement is expected in the next few hours". The ECHO, along with James Pearce at The Athletic, understand that a deal is believed to be within sight although no final agreement has been reached yet.
Jones exit and the future of Liverpool's midfield
Jones never received the recognition he felt he deserved at Liverpool but he has played an important role in the squad throughout a successful era for the club. When he broke through into the fringes of Jurgen Klopp's first great team as a teenager, Jones was hailed like few other academy products had been over the last two decades. Though Klopp's taming of Jones' maverick instincts was hailed as the tricky attacking midfielder/winger became an industrious and press-resistant No. 8, the lad from Toxteth never quite reached the potential at Liverpool that he possessed in spades. In spite of that, Jones made himself an indispensable player - covering three positions in the midfield and consistently challenging for his place, before acting as a strong auxiliary right-back in Arne Slot's final season at the club.
Jones' exit is now the expected outcome, which raises questions about how Liverpool replace the 25-year-old ahead of the new season. Journalist David Lynch (via Anfield Index) has revealed that, based on his information, there is "close to zero chance" of the Reds replacing Jones in the transfer market, with 19-year-old Trey Nyoni set to be given the opportunity as Liverpool's fourth-choice central midfielder. There is also Wataru Endo to provide a more defence-focused alternative within the squad, while James McConnell's proposed loan move to Preston North End is currently "on hold" - perhaps with a view to keeping the 21-year-old around as an additional homegrown option. Stefan Bajcetic is unlikely to be in contention after having trained on a separate programme throughout pre-season and in recent days having attracted the interest of LaLiga side Getafe. In short, Liverpool seem to believe they have the resources to avoid dipping into the transfer market again for a midfielder, though this could well be influenced by the difficulty of replacing a homegrown player when the Reds are already facing the prospect of omitting multiple non-homegrown players from their Champions League squad to comply with UEFA regulations. Some hope for the more nervous among you might come in the form of Vinny O'Connor's assessment for Sky Sports, who recently claimed "you would expect a replacement to be brought in" if Jones left.
Liverpool set to get away with Quansah blunder
Arsenal's reported interest in Jarell Quansah meant Liverpool looked set to rue their decision even further to sell him to Bayer Leverkusen. The most obvious example of Liverpool's squad being left weaker the season after winning their 20th league title was the Marc Guehi farce, which ended with the England international centre-back joining Manchester City in January for a lower fee than Liverpool initially agreed with Crystal Palace. Guehi's wage demands come January were reportedly higher than the Reds were prepared to spend, and there was little that could be done about Steve Parish's last-minute 180 on deadline day last summer while Guehi was undergoing his medical to join Liverpool. Instead, the real farcical decision was to allow Jarell Quansah to leave when a deal for Guehi was far from completion. In Quansah, Liverpool let one of the most promising defenders in the Premier League walk out of the door for a fee that now looks like an absolute bargain, only to fail to replace him and spend most of the season walking a fitness tightrope with just two senior (and often out-of-form) centre-backs.
That decision looked set to backfire spectacularly last week, when Arsenal were widely and credibly reported to be in discussions for Quansah just a year after the 23-year-old left Anfield (Sky Sports, The Athletic). But Sky Sports now report that Arsenal are "in advanced talks" for Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa, a player who favours Quansah's right side and, like his younger counterpart, can also provide cover at right-back. Arsenal had been linked with Konsa for several weeks before this update, so perhaps the public interest in Quansah was an attempt to drive Villa's valuation down - the Gunners having been unwilling to meet their £60m price tag. Either way, the embarrassing outcome of Quansah ending up at a Premier League rival just a year after leaving the club looks to have been avoided for now, leaving open the possibility that the Warrington native still returns to Liverpool in a future window.
Liverpool 'courting' Argentine talent Aranda
After Liverpool secured an agreement for Colombian attacking midfielder Samuel Martinez earlier in the summer, who will link up with his new teammates a year from now, another young South American prospect has been linked with the Reds. El Crack Deportivo have reported that Liverpool and a host of other clubs are "courting the services of" 19-year-old Tomas Aranda, an attacking midfielder and left winger for Boca Juniors. Aranda has a $20m (£14.7m) release clause at Boca and, despite only managing one goal and three assists from 19 games in Argentina this season, is considered by club president Juan Roman Riquelme - a legend of Aranda's position - to be a "great gem". Riquelme, according to the report, "doesn't want to know" when it comes to the prospect of losing Aranda. But a growing number of suitors are reportedly emerging for the youngster. Chelsea are given headline status in this report, as in a corroborating report from El Intransigente. But Liverpool are also said to be "following" Aranda "closely", as are Inter, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, the City Group, Parma and Como, plus Brazilian sides Corinthians and Sao Paulo. While Boca don't want to lose their hot prospect, El Intransigente report that "a bid close to the [release] clause could force the club to make a difficult decision."
Other reports today include Ifeanyi Ndukwe set to join LaLiga side Levante on a season-long loan, an exciting move for the Austria Vienna academy graduate who impressed at centre-back for Liverpool in pre-season. Paul Gorst has the full story - with the move not yet confirmed but Levante "understood to be at the front of the queue as things stand." Spurs are planning to sign three attackers before the window closes, according to Sky Sports, with Cody Gakpo among their top targets. Along with the widely-reported interest in Gakpo and Savinho for the opposite wing, Spurs are said to want a centre-forward to round out the pack, with Omar Marmoush on the list. Pedro Neto is seen as an alternative if Spurs don't land Gakpo, with the north London club 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." And Darwin Nunez is set for a loan move to Al Diriyah from fellow Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, after being frozen out at last season's league runners-up. Nunez had been expected to join Mohamed Salah at Trabzonspor but that move broke down, meaning Nunez will stay in the Pro League for at least one more year. Sacha Tavolieri's tweet breaks down the complicated story, with Al Diriyah's commitment to cover 75% of Nunez's wages perhaps proving decisive.
