Liverpool FC have allegedly reached a verbal agreement to pay Benfica €100 million ($105 million) for their striker Darwin Nunez.
Reported by transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano via The Guardian, the deal consists of a guaranteed €80 million ($84 million) for the Portuguese giants plus a further €20 million ($21 million) in add-ons.
This means that the Uruguay international could become the club’s most expensive player of all time, with defender Virgil van Dijk currently boasting such bragging rights after the Reds paid £75 million ($92.3 million) for him from Southampton in January 2018.
Nunez, 22, is set to follow in the footsteps of national team colleague Luis Suarez who led Liverpool’s front line from 2011 to 2014 before joining FC Barcelona.
Tipped to arrive on a five-year contract, Penarol academy product Nunez will be the second South American signed by Jurgen Klopp’s men this year after Luis Diaz joined from Benfica’s eternal rivals Porto in a €60 million ($63.1 million) deal.
Liverpool are now closing on Darwin Núñez deal, here we go! Meeting in the morning with verbal agreement in place between Liverpool & Benfica, just waiting to sign. €80m plus €20m add ons fee. 🚨🔴🇺🇾 #LFCLiverpool are preparing paperworks. Five year contract, already agreed. pic.twitter.com/znzD7DyU8P
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 11, 2022
Nunez landed at Benfica from Spanish minnows Almeria, who are set to get 20% of any future sale, as part of a €24 million ($25.2 million) agreement in September 2020.
Scoring 48 goals in 85 appearances for the Lisbon-based club, he impressed in the Champions League last season in a group which contained Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Dynamo Kiev before Liverpool knocked Benfica out in the quarter-finals.
Nunez scored in each leg for his team as the Anfield outfit won 6-4 on aggregate. Yet Liverpool failing to score against Madrid in the final lost 1-0 to Los Blancos in Paris a fortnight ago has highlighted the need for an out-and-out striker.
Once Klopp’s go-to man up front, Brazil star Roberto Firmino is now often used a substitute.
Nunez’s arrival could accelerate the departure of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich, from whom Liverpool have already reportedly rejected a £30 million ($37 million) bid while rating their charge at over £40 million ($49 million).
Like Sane, Mohamed Salah also has just a year left on his contract as does Firmino.
With all three men now 30 or approaching the milestone, though, and Klopp having signed 25-year-olds Diogo Jota and Diaz in recent times, sealing Nunez’s signature shows that Klopp is planning to regenerate his attacking trident.
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