Curtis Jones to Inter Milan and the unease behind the denials

Liverpool's Scouser in the team linked with Italian exit

I can't claim certainty, but I do trust patterns, and the pattern around Curtis Jones has been troubling for a while now. On Monday, I was sent a series of screenshots from someone close to the player, heavy on cryptic emojis, light on explanation. Make of that what you will. What followed mattered more. I was told on Tuesday by someone else that he would likely not feature against Qarabag, and that illness would be cited as the reason, whether it stood up to scrutiny or not.

So when talk of a possible move surfaced last night, it didn't land as a shock. Jones has 18 months left on his deal, no visible momentum towards renewal, and his involvement has quietly dipped at a time when Liverpool are short of bodies and clarity.

I cannot say there is a rift with Arne Slot, but this season has offered enough oddities that the idea no longer feels fanciful. Jones has spoken publicly about standards, about what Liverpool should look like, and he has never hidden his frustration when those standards slip. Players like that tend not to suffer quietly.

If the club have decided that Slot is still the right man, then ambiguity cannot linger. Player power corrodes dressing rooms when it is left unchecked, as history has shown, and no one is immune to that logic. Not Mo Salah in December, and not a Scouser now.

But this is where the unease deepens. When a local lad, steeped in the club’s culture, might fancy a fresh challenge, it points to something more serious than tactics or minutes. It suggests a fracture in trust.

Liverpool have endured difficult transitions before. What they cannot afford now is to lose their compass from the inside out.