First Liverpool summer transfer confirmed as source reveals £85m star will ‘100% leave’

Liverpool will move to sign a new elite-level striker this summer and will pave the way for such a deal by permitting Darwin Nunez to secure a move overseas, with a deal to sell the Uruguayan described as “100%” by a trusted source and backed up by two others.

 

 

 

 

 

The Reds are hit a slight bump in the road this season after collecting just one win in their last four games – a run of form that has seen them knocked out of the FA Cup and witnessed two frustrating draws in the Premier League at both Everton and Aston Villa. Nonetheless, with an eight-point cushion at the top of the table, it would be quite the collapse were Liverpool to not go on and win the title this season for only the second time in 35 years.

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool could, though, have been sitting much more comfortably had Nunez not squandered a gilt-edged chance to secure all three points at Villa Park on Wednesday, the striker blazing over the bar with the goal at his mercy in the dying stages of the 2-2 draw.

 

That now means the 25-year-old – who cost an initial £64m from Benfica, rising to £85m, has missed four big chances in the competition this season, according to Premier League data. And while Arne Slot has spoken out in defence of the player, highlighting his incredible work-rate, it seems the Dutchman has already made his mind up to sign an upgrade this summer.

 

 

 

 

To that end, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano recently revealed Liverpool came ‘very close’ to selling Nunez to Al-Nassr in the winter window

 

 

 

 

Both clubs as well as Nunez were on board with the move before Liverpool pulled the plug in the final stages, having realised his sale would leave them short up front.

 

But now according to Liverpool journalist David Lynch, a summer exit for Nunez is guaranteed.

 

“Darwin Nunez will 100% leave Liverpool this summer and I think that’s pretty much nailed on,” he told Anfield Index.

 

“I’m pretty sure he will go to Saudi Arabia because the interest was there in January and the player was keen on the move too

 

 

 

 

 

The prospect of Liverpool selling Nunez has also been backed up by two other trusted sources with The Athletic’s Liverpool expert, James Pearce, revealing on Friday that a Nunez sale IS on the cards.

 

Pearce wrote: ‘The former Benfica striker has regressed rather than kicked on in his third season at Anfield and a parting of the ways looks increasingly likely come the summer.’

 

Romano also feels a move to take Nunez to Saudi will be reignited in the summer, saying recently: “The expectation in the industry of those close to all parties involved in this story is that from Saudi they can return for Darwin Nunez

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s see also if something will happen with European clubs maybe interested. But from Saudi, they remain keen on Darwin Nunez and so I think Darwin has concrete chances to leave Liverpool in the summer transfer window.

 

“I told you last week and today I can confirm – there is this feeling that it’s a concrete possibility for Darwin to go and for Liverpool to change something up front.”

 

Per reports in Portugal at the time of Nunez’s transfer to Anfield from Benfica, two parts of the add-ons related to appearance targets.

 

 

 

 

A payment of £4.3m was due when Nunez made 10 appearances, with a further £8.5m paid after his appearance count hit 60.

 

Nunez has surpassed both of those targets, meaning Liverpool’s cost of signing Nunez has already risen to £76.8m. The remainder of the add-ons relate to individual and team objectives and it’s unclear whether those have been triggered.

 

 

 

 

 

In any case, multiple sources state Liverpool will not stand in the player’s way of leaving this summer and have set an asking price of roughly £60m (€72.4m, $75.8m) on the player’s head

 

 

 

 

 

Reflecting on that miss at Villa Park, former Reds striker Robbie Fowler strongly criticised the player on TNT Sport and urged him to get back to basics to rediscover his form over the remainder of the season.

 

“People worry about Darwin Nunez because you don’t think, he doesn’t think about the game enough…

 

“If you’re struggling for confidence, you’ve got to go back to basics, you’ve got to get the ball, you’ve got to touch it, and you’ve got to like give it five yards [away].

 

“You don’t look and dally on the ball, waiting for someone to make a run so you can play in an unbelievable pass – play the simple things.

 

“You always need to go back to basics and do the simplicity of being a footballer, what got you into the position of being a professional footballer.

 

“And it’s a bad miss, it’s a really bad miss, probably up there with one of the worst we’ve seen this year.

 

“I’ll try and help him out a little bit by saying Szoboszlai maybe should have shot himself, but you know, he’s played a great ball to him and he’s missed the target, criminally, from seven/eight yards – that can’t be happening.”

 

Liverpool striker target keen on move – sources

Slot is understood to have a number of potential options to replace Nunez in his attack next season, though our transfer correspondent Fraser Fletcher recently revealed that Alexander Isak is very much a name being considered – and better yet, he has revealed why the Newcastle star would be ‘very interested’ in a move to Anfield.

 

Any deal, though, will not be easy amid claims that the Magpies would insist on a British record transfer fee – currently set at the £115m Chelsea paid Brighton for Moises Caicedo – for the Swede, who has 19 goals and five assists from 29 appearances this season.

 

Despite that, Fletcher understands that Slot will have an enormous summer transfer warchest at his disposal – and that the Dutchman could be free to spend as much as £200m on new arrivals, with two arrivals the tip of the iceberg.

 

One man also recently linked with a move is Norwegian midfield prospect Sverre Nypan, with a report revealing how the Reds are trying to convince him to snub a move to Arsenal