Inter agree £30m deal for Liverpool's Jones

Curtis Jones came through Liverpool’s academy and made his first-team debut at 17

Curtis Jones is set to join Inter Milan after the Italian side agreed a deal worth 35m euros (£30m) with Liverpool.

The Reds have accepted an offer worth €30m euros (£25.7m) plus €5m euros (£4.3m) in add-ons for the midfielder.

Jones, 25, will travel to Italy on Thursday to complete a medical. The transfer agreement includes a 10% sell-on clause for Liverpool.

In June, Liverpool rejected a verbal offer of 25m euros (£21.7m) from the Serie A champions, with the Premier League side valuing the 25-year-old, who had one year left on his contract, at about £35m.

More recently, Liverpool suggested that something in line with the £30m package that Inter paid Tottenham for Djed Spence would probably mean a deal being struck.

Inter were interested in Jones in January and proposed a loan with a view to a transfer, but that was turned down by Liverpool.

Jones has made 228 appearances for Liverpool since making his debut under Jurgen Klopp in 2019.

Last season, he played 49 times in all competitions but only made 18 starts in the Premier League and struggled to secure a regular starting spot in midfield under Arne Slot.

Jones, who joined Liverpool’s academy at the age of nine, is understood to be keen on pursuing a new challenge and would become the third English player to join Inter this summer, after John Stones and Spence.

Jones wanted to explore a new opportunity in Italy and Liverpool did not want to stand in his way.

Last summer, it was Trent Alexander-Arnold who left his boyhood club for Real Madrid and this summer, Jones who has done the same, although his destination is Italy and Milan.

From Liverpool’s perspective, a £30m package represents good value as Jones only had one year left on his current deal.

Selling Jones also generates immediate pure profit on a home-grown asset. It was either now, sell him for less in January, or he leaves for free next summer.

On the pitch, Jones was versatile enough to play in a number of positions but he struggled to make one role his own. Off the pitch, Jones has always been honest and someone willing to take responsibility.

He played 95 games for Liverpool in two seasons under former boss Slot so his presence as a solid squad option will be missed under the Dutchman’s replacement Andoni Iraola, but it will give an opportunity for 19-year-old Trey Nyoni, who impressed in pre-season, to step up.

“I rate Curtis very highly,” Iraola said in his first news conference after taking charge of the Reds, adding he wanted Jones to stay and “continue performing the way he has been performing”.

He also highlighted that the player is a local lad - “he’s Scouse, he’s from here” - but with Jones now on his way it means Liverpool will have no Scousers in their first-team squad. The effect of that remains to be seen.

Leeds sign Elvedi from Borussia Monchengladbach

Elvedi made his Switzerland debut in 2016

Leeds United have completed the signing of defender Nico Elvedi from Borussia Monchengladbach in an £8.5m deal.

The Swiss international, 29, has signed a three-year contract at Elland Road and will reunite with Whites boss Daniel Farke, who managed the Bundesliga side in 2022-23.

“He is also a big point for this change,” Elvedi said of his relationship with Farke.

“It was just one year but I loved to have him as a manager. I learned a lot from him and I will learn a lot now.”

Borussia Monchengladbach accepted an offer worth an initial £6.8m, with a further £1.7m in add-ons.

Elvedi spent 11 years with Monchengladbach, making 364 appearances for the German club.

He has earned 73 caps for his native Switzerland, playing every minute of their recent run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Elvedi is Leeds’ fourth signing of the summer transfer window, following James Trafford, Harry Wilson and fellow defender Tarik Muharemovic.

His arrival at the club allowed Sebastiaan Bornauw to leave Elland Road and sign for Hamburg on a season-long loan.

Earlier on Wednesday, striker Joel Piroe joined West Ham on a season-long loan.

Leeds begin their Premier League campaign with a trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Mourinho told Vinicius Jr 'not worth' leaving Real

Jose Mourinho told Vinicius Jr it was “not worth” leaving Real Madrid as he successfully persuaded the Brazilian to remain at the club.

The 26-year-old had entered the final 12 months of his contract at the Bernabeu, meaning he would have been able to leave Real for free next summer.

Premier League champions Arsenal were alerted to the possibility of landing one of the world’s top wingers as contract talks wore on but Vinicius Jr eventually committed his future to Real earlier this month by signing a six-year contract.

And Mourinho, 63, whose return to Real for a second stint in charge was confirmed in June, spoke of his part in keeping the Brazil international in the Spanish capital.

Mourinho said on Spanish TV show El Chiringuito: “Vinicius has fallen in love with Real Madrid.

“The only thing I told him was: ‘Vini, where do you want to go? You’ve only been in Brazil and you only know Real Madrid. You only understand Real Madrid when you leave. When you leave that’s when you realise what Real Madrid is. Don’t leave. It’s not worth it.’

“I think what he has felt in terms of the group’s growth, the way we’ve been working and developing, has given him a very important feeling.”

Mourinho came up against Real three times in the Champions League last season, when he was manager of Benfica.

During their second meeting - the first leg of their knockout phase play-off - Real players alleged that Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni racially abused Vinicius, resulting in the match stopping for around eight minutes.

Prestianni denied the claims and Mourinho defended his player.

Uefa later banned Prestianni for three matches, with a further three suspended, for homophobic conduct.

Mourinho addressed the incident and said Vinicius can “rely on me to be on his side”.

“Prestianni was my player. That’s it. There’s no debate. If Prestianni is my player, 20 players can come at me and I’m still with Prestianni. End of story,” he said.

“I think Vini now knows what side I am now on and knows he can look me in the eye and rely on me to be on his side.”

After a rare two years without major silverware, Real are looking for a way back to the top and Spain captain Rodri was tipped to help with that.

With Rodri entering the final year of his Manchester City contract and having previously expressed a desire to return to Spain during his career, Real and Barcelona swooped.

Rodri chose to make the move to La Liga champions Barcelona in a deal worth £65m and Mourinho has explained the “doubts” he felt over his side’s pursuit of the midfielder.

“We talked a couple of times and Real Madrid made him a good offer. Rodri had doubts and his doubts made me doubtful,” Mourinho said.

“He is a remarkable player and he behaved correctly at all times with us but the scale of Real Madrid is that you can’t have players here who think twice about coming.

“I wish him well. Not too well, obviously. But I wish him well.”

In his previous spell in charge of Real between 2010 and 2013, Mourinho won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.

Now 13 years older and having had spells at Manchester United, Tottenham and Inter Milan, the Portuguese believes he returns to Madrid a “more controlled, less emotional” manager - but insisted that does not come at the cost of reduced entertainment.

Mourinho said: “Obviously, I can’t hide or try to be something I’m not. I’m much more mature, less emotional and more controlled.

“As always, I learn from mistakes. But I don’t regret this or that, because I don’t think regretting something that has happened helps anything in life.

“Learning from experiences does. In this job as a coach, I think the more experience you have, the more deja vu you have, the better you become.

“That’s not to say I’m more boring. I have the same DNA.”

To the well and back - how Malaga returned to La Liga

An estimated 185,000 people attended Malaga’s promotion parade in June

For Spanish football enthusiasts, the returns of Deportivo La Coruna, Racing Santander and Malaga to La Liga are a welcome sight.

All three have featured strongly in Spain’s top flight in the past 30 years, before various factors meant they dropped out of professional football.

Of the trio, Malaga seemed the least likely to recover.

Ten years after stunning Europe’s elite in the Champions League, the Andalusians had no owner, no money, and seemingly no future.

Yet thanks to a hungry group of youngsters, an unconventional teacher and a fanbase that refused to let their club die, ‘los boquerones’ are back.

This is how they did it.

On 9 April 2013, Malaga were minutes away from reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

The competition debutants led 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund, but were dumped out in heartbreaking fashion after two stoppage-time goals from Jurgen Klopp’s fearsome side.

Regardless, Malaga looked set to achieve what countless others had tried and failed to - consistently challenge Spanish football’s ‘big three’ of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

In 2010, Qatari Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani bought what was traditionally a second-tier club and began transforming them into a European contender.

Manuel Pellegrini was installed as manager and provided with quality players including Santi Cazorla, Jeremy Toulalan, Ruud van Nistelrooy and promising youngster Isco.

But Pellegrini joined Manchester City and Isco signed for Real Madrid in summer 2013 - and hopes of a golden era at Estadio La Rosaleda morphed into a decade of decline.

The following season Malaga were banned from the Europa League for breaching Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules regarding overdue payments.

Mounting debts necessitated player sales, and relegation from La Liga followed in 2018. Two years later a regional court ordered Al-Thani’s removal because of alleged misappropriation of funds.

European and international arrest warrants have been issued against the Sheikh and his three sons, with prosecutors seeking prison sentences totalling 14 and a half years for alleged misappropriation, unfair administration and abusive corporate decisions.

Court-appointed administrator Jose Maria Munoz has overseen operations since 2020.

Fire sales and years of relying on free agents and loan signings helped steady Malaga’s financial position, but in 2023 a threadbare squad slipped into the regionalised third division.

“I was at the last game in the second division against Ibiza. Both teams were already relegated and it was like a funeral,” said podcaster and Malaga season-ticket holder Matt Harrison.

Spain’s third tier is known as ‘el pozo’ - the well - because it is notoriously difficult to climb out of. Fearing the worst, a group of local businessmen discussed plans to form a phoenix club in the event Malaga faded into obscurity.

Fortunately, a hungry squad of youth-team players and local lads secured promotion at the first attempt.

After finishing third in the south division of the third tier, Malaga faced a two-legged play-off final against Gimnastic Tarragona.

With the Catalans on top in the dying moments of extra time in the second leg, Antonio Cordero bundled the ball home to send the travelling fans wild and Malaga back to the second tier.

“The city exploded with promotion back to the second division,” said Harrison. That season in el pozo seemed to reignite the city’s love for its football team.

“Disgracefully, in Malaga there have always been lots of Real Madrid and Barcelona fans,” said Malaga supporter and journalist Jose Luis Sabatel.

“But when Malaga flew lower, an enormous quantity of ‘Malaguenos’ [residents] became ‘Malaguistas’ [supporters].”

Sergio Pellicer - in his second spell as manager - followed promotion with a 16th-place finish in the second division, but began the next season with just four wins in 14 games.

He was replaced by reserve-team boss Juan Francisco Funes, who had never played or coached in professional football.

A few weeks earlier the former teacher had considered returning to the classroom with his side bottom of their fourth division group.

Chupe (middle) was promoted from the reserve team in January 2025 and went on to score 25 goals in 2025-26

After beginning the Funes era with one win and two draws, the gamble began to pay off as Malaga won their next six games and surged to third in the table.

Not only did the results improve, but what had been a restrained side started playing some entertaining, attacking football.

“That style of football combined with local players made a perfect cocktail that energised the fans,” says Harrison.

Those players included academy graduates like striker Chupe - scorer of 25 goals - winger David Larrubia, and defender Diego Murillo, as well as others who grew up in the stands at La Rosaleda.

Knowing many of his younger players from the academy certainly helped Funes turn things around.

“He already knew their strengths, weaknesses and personalities from the outset. There was virtually no adaptation period, so they hit the ground running,” says Radio Marca journalist Juanje Fernandez.

Funes drew on his teaching experience, using historical quotes and films to motivate and convey ideas to a young group.

He is likely not the only coach to draw inspiration from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but he might be the first to use Kung Fu Panda to aid a promotion push.

“The players bought into Funes’ ideas from day one,” adds Fernandez.

“Footballers tend to perform at their best when they genuinely believe in what they’re being asked to do, rather than simply following instructions.”

Funes speaks about his players like they are his children, once affectionately describing them in an interview as ‘los bichos’. The colloquial term used to describe talented people soon became the team’s nickname.

‘Funesbuque’ is another name that stuck - ‘the good ship Funes’.

Since 2020 all but one of Malaga’s permanent signings have been free

After finishing fourth, the 2025-26 season boiled down to a play-off final against Almeria.

Malaga had one of the smallest budgets in the division and had spent just £325,000 on permanent transfers since 2020. Almeria spent more than £10m that season alone.

After a goalless home draw in the first leg, hundreds of fans lined motorway bridges heading out of the city to wave the team on their way to Almeria.

It was a sight symptomatic of the strong bond forged between the team and its fanbase in recent years. It became a common occurrence for fans to welcome the team bus to the stadium with flags and pyrotechnics.

A song adopted by the club’s Fondo Sur ultras, borrowed from the ultras scene in Morocco, became the soundtrack of the season. ‘Es la Vida Loca’ - the crazy life.

Malaga’s average attendance last season was the 11th-highest in the country, but only a few hundred tickets were available for the game in Almeria.

Yet when Chupe steered Malaga in front before Larrubia curled in a stunning second, the whole fanbase did too - kit supplier Hummel incorporated the names of all 26,550 season-ticket holders into a special one-off strip.

The 2-1 victory sparked mass celebrations in Malaga. After partying all weekend, an estimated 185,000 fans lined the streets to give the team a triumphant welcome.

“It was a once-in-a-generation moment. Many young fans had never seen Malaga play in La Liga,” says Fernandez.

“An entire generation had grown up after the club’s Champions League years knowing little more than financial turmoil, sporting disappointment and uncertainty surrounding the club they loved.”

After a second night of partying, several players took to social media to challenge fans to meet them at 07:00 on Monday at a roundabout in a western suburb. Hundreds answered the call.

“That connection between the squad and the fans was one of the defining features of the campaign,” adds Fernandez.

“It helped create a sense that everyone, from the dressing room to the streets of the city, was pulling in the same direction.”

Given their financial constraints, Malaga’s preparations for the top flight have been low-key.

Several important players have renewed their contracts, while sporting director Loren Juarros has made some astute loan signings.

Promotion winner Carlos Dotor returned on loan from Celta Vigo, while £256,000 was spent on loaning winger Juan Cruz from Leganes.

Malaga fans know their club are favourites for relegation.

They open the season with daunting trips to Atletico Madrid (Wednesday, 20:00 BST kick-off) and Real Madrid, but after what they have been through that should not faze them.

“Malaga’s story is beautifully convoluted, with plenty of plot twists and the most enchanting ending,” says Sabatel.

“From now on, we can only enjoy.”

Villa sign goalkeeper Suzuki and left-back Ruggeri

Zion Suzuki has 28 caps for Japan while Matteo Ruggeri has played for Italy at all levels apart from senior

Aston Villa have confirmed the signings of goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and left-back Matteo Ruggeri.

Japan international Suzuki makes the move to Villa Park from Italian side Parma for a fee in the region of £30m.

Italian full-back Ruggeri joins Villa in a deal worth £17m from La Liga side Atletico Madrid.

Suzuki, 23, joins despite Emi Martinez’s move to Juventus collapsing over the weekend, with the two clubs unable to agree a fee.

Martinez, who helped Villa win the Europa League in May and was victorious in the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, faces an uncertain future after his failed move to Juve.

Villa view 23-year-old Suzuki as their long-term number one, potentially for the next decade.

He had been at Parma for two years, making 59 appearances for the Serie A side and helping them finish 13th last season.

Ruggeri, 24, who is yet to be capped at senior level for Italy, comes in to replace Lucas Digne - who signed for European champions Paris St-Germain on 9 August.

A Europa League winner with Atalanta in 2024, Ruggeri made over 100 appearances for the Serie A side before completing a transfer to Atletico last summer.

Both could make their debuts in Sunday’s Premier League opener at Brighton.

Suzuki’s former coach at Sint-Truiden in Belgium, Dennis Rudel, conjures up an intriguing image of Villa’s new goalkeeper.

“We played in Anderlecht and after the game we went out to the bus and there was a fight with hooligans,” he tells BBC Sport.

“The head coach called for Zion: ‘Come here, get out of the bus and clear the situation.’

“It was a joke but you have a picture of Asterix and Obelix and everything is flying away. You have never seen a goalkeeper or a player like that.”

The comparison with Asterix, the cartoon character who gains immense strength after taking a magic potion, is telling, and Rudel believes Villa have signed a unique player.

“I saw his power immediately. To show your strength in the game you have to let the tiger out on the pitch, let the beast out. He is so powerful, I have never seen a goalkeeper like it,” said Rudel, who worked with Suzuki when he was on loan at Sint-Truiden in 2023-24.

“He has such big hands and is powerful - when he can reach the ball it will be 90-95% a save, maybe other keepers touch the ball but it goes in. With him it is something really special.

“After the first two weeks of working with him I said to him you don’t need your apartment, you live in the gym.”

Rudel also praised Suzuki’s distribution, with both his arms and feet, and believes his former player can become one of the world’s best.

“It’s possible because if he stays healthy and with his physical strength there is no one better in the world, in terms of dynamic, jumping power, throws, kicking the ball,” said the former Union Berlin coach.

“When I watched him at the World Cup, his biggest strength is he is mentally clear - the focus on the game or the training sessions is so good. He is always prepared, really disciplined.

“When I see how he always adapts so quickly over the last four years, I’m convinced he can play at that [Premier League] level.

“There are big footsteps from Martinez [to follow], you get measured and compared to Martinez. It would be the same at Bayern Munich with the new Manuel Neuer - Jonas Urbig who is starting to replace him - you get compared to the former player.

“He’s aiming to show he can be one of the best. He was immediately one of the top four or five goalkeepers in Serie A.

“As a person and a player, he is a role model and how you should behave. I don’t see any weakness in him.”

Rudel was key in bringing Suzuki to Europe having travelled to Japan in 2020 for coaching clinics and met Suzuki’s coach at Urawa Red Diamonds, with the goalkeeper being flagged to him.

Sint-Truiden, who have also had Liverpool’s Wataru Endo and Crystal Palace duo Takehiro Tomiyasu and Daichi Kamada on their books, are owned by Japanese electronics and internet company DMM.com.

That helped pave Suzuki’s route to Belgium, and a year later he joined Parma for £8m.

“[In 2023] we were looking for a new goalkeeper and had a couple of on the list but all of a sudden the club said we had an option to get Zion. I said to the sporting director ‘forget the list - if we can get him, get him’,” added Rudel.

“His level went up really quickly, he is very ambitious, he wanted to learn a lot, he asked a lot. We did a lot of video analysis and I can remember how nice it was to work with him. It was a shame it was only one season.”