Summer transfer season is still happening, even while the World Cup continues to be the larger focus of the footballing world.
When last we checked in on the Curtis Jones saga, Inter Milan had put in an “irritating” bid of around €25M, despite Liverpool pretty clearly asking for around £35-40 million for the Scouse midfielder. The club are standing pretty firm that unless the player agrees to a deal with another club that Jones will be staying at Anfield.
Now, there are apparently a number of other clubs waiting in the wings to secure his services should he decide he wants to leave, including Nottingham Forest and Arsenal (lol what?), and Inter Milan may or may not be willing to raise that offer for Jones.
Italian publication CalcioMercato reported that Inter’s sporting director Piero Ausilio addressed the situation on Sunday, indicating that yes, they want Jones, but Liverpool might be making it intentionally difficult.
“A minimal gap? That’s what you say, the millions aren’t yours,” Ausilio said.
“We were interested in January and we still are now. We tried and we’ll try again, if we meet on the valuation, good; if not, we’ll look elsewhere.”
Of course, Inter clearly have no intention of meeting Liverpool’s valuation, but the Serie A club would be the most logical move for Jones who has spent his whole career with Liverpool and has been unsettled by lack of playing time last season after seemingly falling out with now former coach Arne Slot.
Forest or Arsenal? Less likely, even if both clubs look like they would be more than willing to meet the £40 million that Liverpool are asking for their homegrown talent.
Of course, it’s still June, and the World Cup (that Jones isn’t participating in, to be fair) is still going on so this saga is unlikely to be decided any time soon.