Liverpool players came out in their numbers to say farewell to Curtis Jones, showing how much his team-mates respect him. The Reds' academy graduate has left Anfield to move to Italian heavyweights Inter Milan.
His move to the San Siro was secured after Andoni Iraola's side accepted a £30million bid from the 2010 Champions League winners. The deal brought Jones' 20-year spell on the red side of Merseyside to an emotional end.
Emotional Instagram farewells
Before he left, he took to social media and penned a lengthy farewell to his former team-mates and the club's fan-base, who saw him win two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Club World Cup.
When his post was uploaded to Instagram, several Liverpool stars wished him farewell. Liverpool's £116m man Florian Wirtz commented a love heart emoji as did Trey Nyoni. Conor Bradley was particularly sad to be parting with Jones, as he commented a crying face emoji while Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, and Giovanni Leoni also wrote love heart emojis beneath the post.
Jones' Liverpool career and transfer details
At Liverpool, Jones made 228 appearances, contributing 22 goals and 25 assists in all competitions. Last season, he made 34 Premier League appearances, but half of those were from the substitutes' bench. He did manage to earn six international caps for the Three Lions, but he did not do enough to earn a call-up to Thomas Tuchel's squad for the recent World Cup.
Inter had been linked with a move for Jones in the January transfer window. They proposed a loan move with a view to sign him permanently, but the Reds turned down their approach. Moreover, the club also turned down a verbal offer of £21.7m in June, before the World Cup. The second offer of £25.7m with £4.3m in add-ons was accepted by Andoni Iraola's side, a matter of days before the Reds' Premier League opener away to Newcastle United.
Other summer departures
Jones is the fourth first-team regular to leave this summer. Mohamed Salah was the first, departing as a free agent and joining Turkish side Trabzonspor. Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate also left as free agents, joining Tottenham and Real Madrid respectively.
