Liverpool will face a number of decisions this summer in the transfer market with a couple of glaring needs to address in Arne Slot’s roster and several big contracts still to be sorted out.
For the first time in a while, there could be genuine churn within the Liverpool squad with some big names moving on. And Darwin Nunez is one who would seem primed for a move if a high enough bid comes in for his services.
There was interest from Saudi Arabia in January while Atletico Madrid was linked with Nunez recently before publicly ruling itself out of such a deal. Now, it has been suggested that Fenerbahce will “push all the conditions for this transfer in the summer months” with Jose Mourinho keen to sign the Liverpool ace.
The Turkish outlet Aksam is reporting that Fenerbahce would want a deal at around $38 million (£30 million). Liverpool, though, would demand much more having paid almost three times that for the Uruguayan when he moved to England from Benfica in 2022.
That is the first problem with any potential deal to send him to the Turkish Superliga; Fenerbahce may not be in a position to put a tempting enough offer on the table. The other issue is that such a switch might not be appealing depending on what other clubs come in for Nunez.
It remains to be seen whether there is interest from the Saudi Pro League that firms up in the summer, but there is no guarantee that the South American would want to go there either. The money would be good, of course, but he is only 25 and should have the best years of his career ahead of him.
(Image: Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images)
While Atletico Madrid has distanced itself from a move for Nunez, that kind of deal would surely be much more appealing than either the Middle East or Turkey if circumstances changed.
Nunez has not excelled at Liverpool, but there is enough of a player there for someone to potentially take a chance on him. And it is not that hard to imagine him doing well in Spain or Italy, given he was superb in Portugal.
“Darwin is a striker we have to use in a certain way and we were not able yet to bring the best out of him this season,” Slot said of Nunez in January. “Against Accrington Stanley again you saw he has a lot of pace but, unfortunately for him, most teams sit back a lot against us.”
Liverpool.com says: There is no doubt that this is right time to move on from Nunez. For the player too, he would benefit from a new challenge.
The question is who can come in to bolster the Reds’ forward line to replace him. Alexander Isak and Julian Alvarez have been linked and would be dream options, but they would also cost something close to double the Liverpool transfer record.
