Darwin Nunez may be totally out of time at Liverpool and, if claims from Portugal are true, the 25-year-old may not make another appearance as a starter for the Reds.
The Uruguayan made the switch to Merseyside in 2022 for a club-record transfer fee that had the potential to reach £85m (€100m) but Nunez has really struggled to go from being a rough diamond to an elite operator.
Even his haters have to admit that Nunez seemingly has the talent required but lacks in decision-making at crucial moments. To date, he has 40 goals and 26 assists in 138 games for Liverpool. For the money at stake, he hasn’t been good enough.
With five goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, Nunez has failed to convince Arne Slot that he has the qualities to be a long-term starter in his team.
And now, it seems as though the money side of football could dictate whether or not he will start a game before Liverpool again before the end of the season.
Report claims Liverpool will have to pay Benfica €5m if Darwin Nunez plays another game
A report from Portuguese news outlet A Bola, a clause in the agreement of sale between Benfica and Liverpool is one game from being triggered which means the Reds could save €5m (£4.2m) by not playing him in the remaining five Premier League games.
The report goes into detail about the clauses in Nunez’s contract. Two bonuses of €5m have already been paid by Liverpool to Benfica, totalling €10m (£8.4m).
Each bonus was for playing 25 Premier League or Champions League games as a starter. If he starts another game, he will trigger a third bonus payment of €5m which could be otherwise used this summer in the transfer market.
It would not be a new thing for Nunez to be omitted from the squad given that Slot has already shown that he trusts Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota far more even if Federico Chiesa remains shunned from the squad.
The Italian was again left out of the matchday squad altogether to make space for eventual match-winner Trent Alexander-Arnold for the Leicester game.
Slot is now withing touching distance of his first title in England and will make history as the man to equal Manchester United’s record of 20 league titles in a season where they are loitering near the relegation zone.
Liverpool are on the verge of a huge squad overhaul and it’s clear that Slot has a lot of adjustments he wants to make up front to bring his vision for Liverpool to life.
