Curtis Jones' 20-year association with Liverpool is set to end after a £30m deal was agreed with Inter on Wednesday evening. The Academy graduate is now due to fly to Milan to complete a medical ahead of the new Serie A season, which sees Inter begin at home to Monza on Saturday.
Deal Structure and Negotiations
The Italian giants have tracked Jones all summer after initially seeing January interest rejected out of hand by Liverpool, who were determined to keep all their senior players at the time. The deal's structure involves Inter paying an initial £25m with a further £5m in add-ons and the Reds have negotiated a 10% sell-on clause for the 25-year-old.
Inter had an offer of around £21m rejected out of hand by Anfield chiefs in June. At the time, negotiations were thought to have ended, given the considerable difference in valuation between the two clubs. However, the Nerazzurri returned with an improved offer last month during the Reds' pre-season tour of the United States. The Serie A club reached out via intermediaries to signal they were prepared to table £30m and a breakthrough was made earlier this week.
Player's Decision and Liverpool's Stance
Jones, who trained with his colleagues on Wednesday, is now set to fly to Italy for a medical before wrapping up the formalities of his switch to Milan. New head coach Andoni Iraola said that he wanted Jones to stay with his boyhood club and sign a new contract last month but the city-centre-born Jones is keen for a fresh challenge and more game time.
Liverpool were reluctant to see another high-profile player walk away as a free agent after the end-of-season departures of Ibrahima Konate, Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, particularly given Jones's age. He started only 16 times in the Premier League last season under Arne Slot and several of those appearances came late in the campaign when he was used as a makeshift right-back.
Career at Liverpool and Future Plans
Jones made his debut in January 2019, as a 17-year-old in an FA Cup defeat to Wolves and the Academy graduate leaves Anfield having made 228 appearances in total. It is unclear at this stage if Liverpool are planning to replace Jones with a more experienced midfielder or give 19-year-old Trey Nyoni the opportunity of more minutes after an impressive pre-season campaign under Iraola.
