With the season kicking off this weekend and Liverpool in desperate need to strengthen at multiple positions, this was the week sporting director Richard Hughes was supposed to finally get down to business and get a few key signings across the line.
Instead, the only deal the worst appointment of the Fenway Sports Group era has managed appears to be the sale of midfielder Curtis Jones to Inter Milan, as after setting a £35M (€40.8M) valuation on the player and holding out for it all summer, the Reds
this week backed down and accepted £30M (€35M).
Of that fee, only £25.7M (€30M) is guaranteed with the final £4.3M (€5M) add-ons. There is also a 10% sell-on fee to cover the potential future sale of the 25-year-old Scouse midfielder in the coming seasons.
With the transfer negotiations between clubs out of the way and the player having agreed personal terms some time ago, Jones has today been given permission to travel to Italy to undergo his medical—set for Friday in Milan—and put pen to paper on his contract for his new club.
Milan’s Serie A season kicks off on Saturday against Monza, while Liverpool’s begins on Sunday at Newcastle, with the Reds now adding midfield depth question marks to all the other issues Hughes has to solve before he pops the parachute and heads for a Saudi Pro League payday.
Alternately, of course, Hughes won’t actually make the forward and right back and now midfield signings he needs to and then he’ll just escape to his Saudi payday not giving a shit he’s turned a title calibre squad into a thin and unbalanced mess over three years in charge.
