Liverpool are reportedly battling it out with Manchester United for Benfica’s Uruguayan sensation Darwin Nunez.
What’s the word?
That’s according to Correio de Manha (via Sport Witness), who claim Liverpool are interested in the striker, but a fight over him is “raging” with Manchester United.
However, the 22-year-old currently has a €150m (£127.5m) release clause in his contract, meaning Benfica will expect proposals of no less than €100m (£80m) to tempt them. The Eagles expect this to be one of the biggest deals in the club’s history.
The forward has enjoyed a successful start to life at Benfica since his signing from Almeria in 2020, with his fine goalscoring form this season enticing plenty of big clubs.
Nunez can be Liverpool’s new Suarez
There are shades of Liverpool’s move for Luis Suarez in this deal, none more obvious than the homeland he and Nunez share.
This mutual South American hunger could be just what Jurgen Klopp’s front line needs to push them past the insurmountable task that is overcoming Manchester City in the league, as Suarez nearly did so many years ago.
In just 28 league games this season, Nunez boasts 26 goals and four assists. This kind of blistering form has earned him the interest from Europe’s elite, and again can be compared to Suarez’s 49-goal season in the 2009/10 season, which earned him his move from Ajax to Liverpool.
The form Nunez boasts is also not reserved for the league, as he scored right in front of Klopp at both Anfield and the Estadio da Luz on his way to six Champions League goals.
This prompted the German to dub him “extremely good looking”, as he was full of praise for the finisher. And he’s not the only one to praise the Benfica talisman, with Nunez being lauded as a “monster” and a “sensational talent” by FOX reporter James Dodd.
Suarez’s 2013/14 season nearly propelled Liverpool to the most unlikely of league titles against Manchester City, and the signing of this Uruguayan youngster could act as the catalyst to see the Reds overtake a side that have also recently added Erling Haaland to their ranks.
Perhaps a little bit of nastiness and bite upfront that only a South American striker can offer, to compliment the silkiness of Salah and Diaz, could be exactly what Liverpool need to go that one step further and really push for an unprecedented quadruple.
AND in other news, Dean Saunders makes “irreplaceable” claim on exit-linked Reds star…
