Liverpool could give Arne Slot the opportunity to revamp his squad by repeating their Philippe Coutinho strategy when it comes to sorting the future of Darwin Nunez. The Reds forward has been linked with an exit ahead of next season, with speculation ramping up after he deleted all Liverpool-related posts from his Instagram profile.
Nunez has bagged 18 goals in all competitions for Liverpool this season in his most prolific campaign since making the jump to English football. However, it has been reported that Barcelona could come calling when the transfer window opens later this year.
According to The Sun, Nunez has been lined up as a potential replacement for Robert Lewandowski as Barcelona look to offload their highest earners in the summer. He went away to Disneyland Paris with Barcelona star and international team-mate, Ronald Araujo, ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Villa Park next week.
Nunez’s future at Liverpool appears to be less than certain despite the forward being tied down to the Reds until 2028. Only time will tell if he ends up departing Anfield over the coming months, with Slot likely to have the final say when he takes over from Jurgen Klopp.
If it becomes clear that an exit would be the best option for Nunez, Liverpool could benefit from taking the same approach as they did with Coutinho. The former Reds midfielder was sold to Barcelona for around £146million in 2018, with Liverpool investing that money into shoring up their defensive ranks.
They signed Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker shortly after Coutinho’s departure and could look to pull off similar deals with any fee gained from selling Nunez this summer. A significant cash injection would give Slot the opportunity to prepare his Liverpool squad for the next few seasons, with the club very much in transition ahead of Klopp’s impending exit.
Liverpool spent £85m to land Nunez two years ago and would almost certainly be looking to make a profit if he is sold in the near future. It remains to be seen if they will be prepared to part ways with Nunez in any case, but Jamie Carragher has suggested that a move elsewhere would be the right decision for both player and club.
“In terms of Nunez and where the club go forward now, I think after two years, we have all been in squads where someone comes in and maybe you talk about the first year and maybe say, okay he’s getting up to speed with and he’s improving, and it looked like he was at the start of the season but it has ground to a halt,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“You are looking at it now and after two years, I don’t think there is going to be a massive improvement in him. What we have seen in the last two years is what he is. He can cause trouble, he can be erratic with his finishing. I don’t think it is going to be enough to win you the biggest trophies so I think there is a big decision to be made on him in the summer.”
Meanwhile, former Celtic striker Chris Sutton recently suggested that Nunez must have been ‘deeply unhappy’ at Anfield to remove all traces of Liverpool from his Instagram profile.
Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast, Sutton said: “If someone does that, I’d assume he wants out or is off. It just looks like he is going to be on his way or he is deeply unhappy with the club.”
