Liverpool

Liverpool

Premier League • England

Liverpool stance on Darwin Nunez sale revealed as enormous wages offer accelerates exit chances

Darwin Nunez is to be offered a huge salary by Al-Hilal

Liverpool will reportedly soon receive a generous offer to sell Darwin Nunez with the fee Al-Hilal are prepared to pay for the Uruguayan striker coming to light and amid claims they will more than double his current wages at Anfield.

Nunez moved to Merseyside in an initial £64m (€75m, $76.4m) from Benfica in summer 2022, with the Uruguay striker scoring 37 times in 122 appearances for the Reds. However, with the add-ons in the deal taking Liverpool‘s outlay for the 25-year-old up to £84m (€100m, $101.7m) – a club-record deal – many would argue the player has now given the club the best value for money.

While a big favourite of Jurgen Klopp’s, Nunez has seen his game-time reduced throughout this season, with the 33-times capped striker falling down the pecking order under Arne Slot. Indeed, Nunez has started just seven games in the Premier League under the Dutchman, racking up a total of just 757 minutes in the competition so far.

With winger Luis Diaz and forward Diogo Jota preferred ahead of him, speculation over Nunez’s future has intensified in recent weeks.

As a result, speculation on surprise new interest from Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal emerged over the weekend, with AS revealing that the PIF-funded side are weighing up a ‘momentous’ raid on Anfield for Nunez.

According to Anfield Watch, the SPL side plans to offer Nunez ‘an incredible contract offer’ from Al-Hilal to ditch the Reds and move to the Middle East and are ‘ready to pay Nunez around £400k per week if he moves there’, which equates to £20.8m per year.

Such a wage would more than double the current £140,000 a week package Nunez picks up at Anfield – giving the player a serious reason to consider the move.

TEAMtalk transfer correspondent Rudy Galetti has previously told TEAMtalk back on December 31 that Liverpool chiefs are open to selling Nunez in 2025, though a summer exit, rather than one in the January window, was always deemed more likely from club chiefs.

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Darwin Nunez: How much Al-Hilal are prepared to pay and what Slot has said

Indeed, claims that the Saudi Pro-League side are ready to offer Liverpool some £84m for the striker to move this month would allow FSG to make not just a profit on their initial investment, but also present FSG with a strong additional pot of money to hand to Slot with regards his own team strengthening.

To that end, a new striker would likely be targeted as a potential replacement.

One ambitious target touted last week was Victor Osimhen, who has a clause in his deal allowing him to leave for €75m (£63.1m, $76.9m) this summer, though the would cost nearer €95m (£79.9m, €96.9m) if activated in the January window.

As for Nunez, Slot has previously spoken about working hard on the player’s game to try and get him up to speed with his tactical demands.

On the player’s wastefulness in front of goal, Slot said in December: “For me, he has an impact. If you only look at goals, he hasn’t scored as many as he wants to score or we want a number nine to score.

“But he does have an impact in his work rate and that’s not just to prevent the other team from making a chance, but also for us when we lose the ball to be aggressive and we can get the ball back and create chances…

“…Maybe because the fans support him so much, he wants it almost too much, to score that goal for the fans and for himself.”

Latest Liverpool news: Prem right-back linked; forgotten defender departs

Meanwhile, Liverpool have been urged to raid a Premier League rival for a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold should the Reds vice-captain depart Anfield this summer.

Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid and while the Reds have been touted as keeping a close watch on a number of replacements from the continent, Dean Saunders has suggested sporting director Richard Hughes should look far closer to home.

One man initially bought to compete with Alexander-Arnold was Calvin Ramsay, but his time at Anfield has not gone to plan so far. Now a new loan is close to being finalised for the defender back to his homeland – with sources revealing his chances of making that move permanent.

Elsewhere, pundit Darren Bent has named two Liverpool stars as being in the Premier League’s top five players right now.

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