Curtis Jones is back in the middle of a transfer that now looks closer to compromise than rejection. Liverpool have softened their valuation from €40m to around €35m, Inter are preparing a formal offer of €30 million plus add-ons, and talks are due again this week.

The fee gap has narrowed

Inter first looked at Jones in January, then saw Liverpool reject a second bid worth £21.7million in June. Since then, the price has moved. Liverpool's figure has come down, and the Italian side's next move is being framed around a package that sits near €35m, not the wider numbers that were floating around earlier in the summer.

That still leaves a deal to build. Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said: "But there are other situations that we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what's the cost, how we also see the players we have. We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust but is still not the ideal situation. So, it will depend on a lot of things."

The club's own messaging points in the same direction. There are "obvious situations" where Liverpool need to sign players, and the market is being judged with squad balance in mind. Jones's exit is not done, but the gap between clubs is now small enough to keep the talks alive.

Jones's Como absence and the next round of talks

Jones was left out of Liverpool's squad for their second friendly against Como on Sunday. Liverpool said he was scheduled to complete individual work after missing that match and last week's friendly against Monaco because of a minor hip problem.

At the same time, Inter have scheduled a new round of talks for Jones this week. That timing has naturally fed the speculation, but the fitness issue remains on the record and the transfer line has not crossed into certainty.

Fabrizio Romano has also reported that Jones would be the latest high-profile Englishman to join Cristian Chivu's project, alongside John Stones and Djed Spence. Inter are clearly pushing the idea that he fits a growing English core, while Liverpool are still weighing cost, squad needs and whatever sales they can complete before agreeing to anything.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →