According to multiple reports, especially from journalists in Portugal, Liverpool are one step away from signing Benfica and Uruguay striker Darwin Núñez for a fee that would be structured over add-ons, with an initial down payment of around £65m. Personal terms are agreed and the player wants to move to Anfield despite interest from Manchester United, Newcastle United and Atletico Madrid.
Liverpool do not generally spend such a high price for a player, unless he is extremely important to Jurgen Klopp’s plans. The last time they spent £60m+ on players was in 2018, when they signed Alisson and Virgil van Dijk – two players who went on to become giant pillars for the success that followed. So, it’s clear that the manager likes what he sees in Núñez as he potentially looks to evolve his squad in different positions.
After joining Benfica in the summer of 2020 from Spanish side Almeria, Núñez has scored 48 goals and assisted 16 in 85 games in all competitions for the Portuguese side. That constitutes an average direct goal contribution of 0.75 per game. Most of his goal-scoring numbers came in 2021/22 though, 34 of them in fact – six in the Champions League.
Moreover, he has averaged playing 42 games per season (2800 minutes per season approx.), meaning the availability hasn’t been an issue so far despite a minor knee surgery keeping him out of the whole pre-season in 2021. He has recovered from that fully now.
If you subscribe to The Tomkins Times, you will get access to the deep dive, looking at his attributes, playing style, how he compares against forwards of top five leagues in Europe and much more.
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