- Arne Slot now faces a challenge to build bridges with the frustrated player
- Al-Nassr were keen on him before finalising a £65m move for Jhon Duran
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Liverpool rejected a whopping £70million bid for Darwin Nunez from Al-Nassr despite him being keen to speak to the club, according to reports.
The Saudi Pro League side, who have Cristiano Ronaldo on their books on a staggering contract worth £168m per year, were interested in Nunez before turning their attention to a £65m move for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.
However, Liverpool dismissed the offer, telling them he was not for sale at any price.
This, The Sun claim, frustrated the striker because of his desire to at least entertain the big-money move, leaving Arne Slot facing a challenge to ‘build bridges’.
Nunez has struggled for regular starts under Slot this season and it was reported earlier in the window that the Reds also knocked back a £70m bid from a Saudi club.
Liverpool splashed out £85m on the frontman to snap him up from Benfica in 2022 and his future at Anfield is likely to be addressed at the end of the campaign.
Liverpool rejected a £70m bid for one of their superstars from Al-Nassr, according to reports
Darwin Nunez is said to be frustrated after the Reds knocked back the offer out of hand
Uruguay international Nunez has scored six goals and registered four assists in his 29 appearances across all competitions this year.
He was left out of the squad for the Champions League defeat by PSV on Wednesday, briefly sparking fresh transfer speculation, but Slot clarified he was ill.
Talk that he may leave before the window slams shut has quietened, especially after his double secured Liverpool a crucial 2-0 win at Brentford a fortnight ago.
Nunez has returned to training and made the trip down to Bournemouth with the rest of Slot’s squad ahead of this afternoon’s Premier League game.
‘For me, he has impact,’ said Slot last month.
‘If you only look at goals, he hasn’t scored the amount of goals that he wants to score, or we want a number nine to score, but he does have impact in his work-rate. He’s part of a team that scores a lot of goals and is winning a lot.
‘Of course, as a number nine you want to score more goals and that’s definitely what he wants as well. But I’m not only judging Mohamed Salah on his goals and Darwin on his goals – I also judge them on their work-rate and what they bring to the team.
‘The fans support him so much that maybe he wants it too much.’
Arne Slot now faces a challenge to build bridges with Nunez, who was open to the move
Cristiano Ronaldo is on a staggering £168million per year contract with Saudi outfit Al-Nassr
Al-Nassr briefly mounted a surprise charge for Brighton forward Kaoru Mitoma but saw two bids rejected out of hand, the second worth as much as £75m.
Duran will instead play alongside Ronaldo after bringing an end to his two-year stay at Villa, who he joined from MLS outfit Chicago Fire in 2023.
He scored 12 goals from 29 games this season, primarily as an impact substitute.
Al-Nassr are currently third in the Pro League, behind Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal.
