Inter Milan complete £30m Curtis Jones signing as Serie A window heats up

Inter Milan have completed one of the summer's most significant Serie A transfers, confirming the signing of Curtis Jones from Liverpool in a deal worth up to £30m. Jones had been at Liverpool since the age of nine, making 228 appearances and scoring 22 goals, and becomes the third England international to join Inter this transfer window, after John Stones and Djed Spence. According to Sky Sports, the Serie A champions will pay a fixed fee of £25m plus £5m in add-ons for the midfielder, who had entered the final year of his contract. Sky Sports News understands a 10 per cent sell-on clause has been inserted in the deal — a windfall provision that will be closely watched across the Premier League and beyond.

Jones had been a target for the Italian side throughout the last year, with Liverpool turning down a verbal offer in June before Inter returned with a fresh approach this month. The 25-year-old brings a 16-year association with the Merseyside club to an end as he seeks a fresh challenge in Serie A under head coach Cristian Chivu. Despite reported interest from Premier League duo Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, it is Inter which Jones will be pulling on the shirt for this season. Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola said he wanted to keep Jones at Anfield but talked up 19-year-old Trey Nyoni's chances of stepping up in his place this season. Jones is the kind of all-action, box-to-box profile that thrives in the Bundesliga and La Liga alike — and Chivu's Inter, fresh off the Scudetto, will be hoping he can replicate that form in Italy's top flight. For fantasy football managers tracking Serie A, Jones is an immediate watch.

Elsewhere in the Italian transfer market, Roma are working hard to bolster Gian Piero Gasperini's squad before the September 1 deadline. Roma have reopened talks with Inter over a move for Luis Henrique, with the versatile Brazilian seen as a way to solve two problems at once for Gasperini's side. Luis Henrique, who arrived at Inter from Marseille last summer for €25m, can play both as a wing-back and just behind the attack, making him an option who covers multiple roles rather than requiring two separate signings. He has reportedly softened his initial reluctance to leave Milan, having accepted that he currently sits behind Inter's other wide options, with new signing Djed Spence pushing him further down the pecking order. According to Corriere dello Sport and reported by Tuttomercatoweb, Inter are open to a loan with a mandatory buyout clause and value the Brazilian at around €28-30m, while Roma are working to a budget closer to €24-25m — a gap that both clubs' negotiators are still trying to bridge with the window closing on September 1.

Napoli, meanwhile, head into the new Serie A campaign already bolstered by one of the summer's biggest done deals at the top of the Italian market. Manchester United confirmed the permanent departure of Rasmus Hojlund, whose loan spell at Napoli had an obligation to become permanent should the club qualify for the Champions League. After finishing as runners-up to Scudetto winners Inter, Napoli confirmed the terms of the deal had been met, with a €44m (£38m) transfer fee now due to the Red Devils. Hojlund scored 16 goals in 44 appearances for Napoli in all competitions during his loan spell — a return that also drew comparisons with his debut Premier League season at Old Trafford. The Dane is the marquee signing that puts Napoli in the conversation for any Serie A title race preview or match report this season.

In a busy news day across the Italian football landscape, Lazio are also active in the final weeks of the transfer window, though a planned move hit an early snag. According to Football Italia, Lazio have turned their attention back to Andrea Pinamonti after their move for free agent Bamba Dieng collapsed, with the Senegalese forward failing his medical due to a recurring knee issue. Pinamonti represents a more reliable domestic option — a striker well-known across Serie A — and will attract interest from fantasy football communities as a potential bargain pick ahead of the new campaign. Meanwhile, according to Gianluca Di Marzio, Kamil Grabara is nearing a move to Juventus to serve as a backup goalkeeper for Wojciech Szczesny, adding another transfer piece to an already complex Juve summer. The Italian transfer window officially runs until September 1 at 20:00 CEST, with the summer session having opened on June 29, though clubs can still sell players to leagues whose windows remain open after that Italian deadline.