Darwin Nunez wants to complete Liverpool transfer
Jacque Talbot
- Updated: 8 Jun 2022 15:22 BST
- 3 min read
Confirmed
Darwin Nunez has decided that he wants to make a transfer from Benfica to Liverpool this summer, FootballTransfers can confirm.
A host of leading European clubs have been chasing the Uruguay international for many months, but it had become evident in recent weeks that he had his heart set on a move to the Premier League.
Manchester United and Newcastle were the two major rivals to Liverpool over his signing, but it appears that the Reds have won the day to add the 22-year-old to their ranks.
As FootballTransfers reported in May, Jorge Mendes formed a coalition with Eugenio Lopez earlier this year to bring the star to the Premier League in the summer.
Nunez will not be a Gestifute client but super-agent Mendes has been brought in to use his Premier League connections to fufill the attacker's ambition of playing there next season. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have never been in the plans.
It is expected that Benfica will earn a huge transfer fee for the striker, with the Portuguese club aiming for upwards of €100 million for the hitman who bagged 23 goals in the league last season and netted six more in the Champions League.
Liverpool saw him at close quarters in European football as they eliminated Benfica, but it appears that they liked what Nunez displayed in those games, with reports from England suggesting that they are also interested in closing out a deal for the player.
Liverpool targeting young attacking talent
Nunez has enjoyed a startling rise in recent seasons, having debuted for Penarol in 2017/18. Two years later, he was banging in 16 goals for Almeria in Spain’s second tier but it was not until he moved to Benfica that his start really started to rise. He has struck 40 times in his two seasons in Portugal.
Now, it appears that he will be following in the footsteps of former Porto winger Luis Diaz, who joined Liverpool in January and made an instant impact at Anfield.
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His arrival would be the third part of a regeneration process in attack, which is required as Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are all over 30 and all out of contract in 2023 as things stand. Mane, though, may well move to Bayern Munich.
Liverpool began this renewal process by signing Luis Diaz and then added 19-year-old Fabio Carvalho to their ranks from Fulham. If Darwin Nunez gets his wish with a move to Anfield, he would add to this fresher, younger, attacking line up.
