Darwin Nunez is attracting plenty of interest from overseas clubs this summer as Liverpool line up a potential replacement for the Uruguayan.
The 25-year-old is widely expected to move on from Anfield in the next couple of months, with both The Athletic and the Daily Mail indicating in recent days that FSG could be open to selling the number 9 for the right price.
Who are the three main suitors for Darwin Nunez this summer?
According to sources close to Empire of the Kop, three primary contenders have emerged in the race to sign the ex-Benfica marksman – AC Milan, Napoli and Al-Hilal.
The Rossoneri have made initial contact with Liverpool but haven’t taken any concrete steps as of yet. While San Siro chiefs are convinced that Nunez would fit their team’s playing style, they’d prefer to sign him on loan rather than permanently as they consider his asking price of €70m (£59.7m) to be too high.
Napoli manager Antonio Conte also views the 25-year-old as a good fit for his system, and their sporting director Giovanni Manna has been working on a potential swoop for several weeks. Although the Serie A champions can afford to sign him outright, they’re currently negotiation a loan move without a purchase obligation.
Al-Hilal were the first club to approach LFC about the Uruguayan and are prepared to meet the Reds’ valuation of him, although the player would rather stay in Europe (Serie A and LaLiga are of particular interest to him) than relocate to Saudi Arabia.
With Liverpool putting Nunez up for sale this summer, they’re considering a swoop for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike (on whom Mark Brus has penned a detailed analysis for CaughtOffside) as an immediate replacement for our current number 9.
No clear favourite to sign Nunez just yet
Even with three clubs making ther interest in the 25-year-old quite clear, it’s difficult to predict at this stage which of them is in the most advantageous position to sign him in the current transfer window.
Al-Hilal’s willingness for a permanent deal would ordinarily put them in pole position, but Nunez’s preference for a European club could complicate that pursuit. If Napoli were to alter their stance and consider signing him outright, they could assume the whip hand due to their ability to afford his asking price.
That could be an ideal scenario for Liverpool, who may then be able to broker a relatively quick agreement with the Serie A champions and then go on the offensive for Ekitike with a few weeks of the summer to spare, rather than having both situations drag on and being up against the clock to complete business by the end of August.
FSG will also be mindful of one of the Frenchman’s other suitors (such as Manchester United and Chelsea) getting ahead in what’s set to be one of the most fiercely contested transfer races this year.
With the Premier League champions about to spend more than £100m on Florian Wirtz, they might need the Nunez domino to fall first before they can truly push for the Eintracht Frankfurt attacker. For now, it remains a guessing game as to where the Reds’ current number 9 will be playing his football next season.
