Liverpool's sixth biggest sale - Darwin Núñez poised for Al-Hilal move as fee agreed

Darwin Núñez is on the verge of completing his exit from Liverpool after an agreement was reached with Al-Hilal for the Uruguayan striker. The two clubs have agreed on an initial €53m fee with achievable add-ons include - Núñez is poised to fly to the Middle East to pen a three-year contract. The 26-year-old appeared to waive goodbye to the Anfield faithful after their friendly against Athletic Club on Monday.

Núñez has been in fantastic form in pre-season with five goals in four games but his performances have generally been erratic since joining the Merseyside club for €85 million from Benfica in 2022. The attacker has scored 40 goals and provided 26 assists for the Reds across 143 games but he’s likely played his last game for the club - although there’s been reports that he could say farewell in the Community Shield on Sunday at Wembley. Despite his inconsistent performances, Núñez is an incredibly popular figure, amongst fans and teammates, at Anfield and Liverpool are set to recoup a sizable fee for the Uruguay international.

Darwin Nunez to enter Liverpool’s top ten biggest sales

Far from resting on their laurels after winning the Premier League, Liverpool have built from a position of strength and made several high-profile signings this summer. Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké have all arrived to the tune of €308m. Liverpool are the biggest spenders so far this window but they’ve also recouped €143m in sales, which ranks them third from every club. And as the graphic below shows, Núñez will become Liverpool’s sixth biggest sale in their history when he completes his move to the Saudi Pro League.

 Moreover, Núñez will likely rise to their fourth biggest sale if relatively easily achievable add-ons are met to take the overall package to €65m. Fernando Torres’ €58.5m move to Chelsea in 2010 and Raheem Sterling’s €63.7m move to Manchester City in 2015 currently occupy fifth and fourth spot but the final fee for Núñez is expected to eclipse both players. Interestingly, three of Liverpool’s top ten biggest sales will arrive this summer after Luis Díaz (€75m) joined Bayern Munich and Jarrell Quansah (€35m) moved to Bayer Leverkusen. Liverpool’s vast spending this summer has been questioned in some quarters but once Nunez’s move is completed, Arne Slot’s net spend will drop to €112.5 million. That will be the fourth highest of Premier League clubs behind Arsenal, Manchester United and Man City with Tottenham, Sunderland and Cheslea not far off Liverpool.