Darwin Nunez expected to leave Liverpool with Reds to take loss on club-record £85million signing

Darwin Nunez is likely to leave Liverpool this summer with Liverpool seeking north of £59million, talkSPORT understands.

The 25-year-old is drawing interest from Saudi Arabia, with Al Hilal contacting Liverpool on Monday to ask for the conditions of a deal.

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Al Nassr had a €70m [£59m] bid rejected in January and Liverpool are using this number as a yardstick for valuation.

FSG’s CEO of Football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes decided not to sell Nunez mid-season believing the Uruguay international would be better served helping Liverpool win the Premier League title.

Liverpool paid a club-record £85m for Nunez when he joined from Benfica in June 2022.

Recouping a large proportion of this figure is a priority, especially with Liverpool looking to add another striker this summer.

talkSPORT understands Liverpool have also come to their valuation based on Nunez’s record as a Liverpool starter.

In 49 starts, Nunez has scored 25 goals and provided 13 assists.

That’s essentially a goal every two games and an assist every four.

Liverpool plan to stick to their minimum £59m valuation even with a non-Saudi bidder.

Nunez has not closed the door on a move to the Saudi Pro League, and dealmakers feel a decisive bid early in the window could prove successful, especially knowing European clubs may not match Liverpool’s asking price.

Whether or not that comes from Al Hilal, Al Nassr again, or another Saudi club, is still under discussion.

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Hilal’s enquiry was more framed around a last-ditch bid to find a striker before the Club World Cup having failed to land Victor Osimhen and was one of several enquiries made on a frantic June 10 deadline day.

However, Nunez is understood to be interested in a move to either Italy or Spain.

talkSPORT understands Atletico Madrid hold a genuine interest.

Liverpool are already assessing options to replace Nunez internally.

Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko and Joao Pedro are among the names considered.

Nunez endured his worst goalscoring season since 2019 in the 2024/25 term – finding the back of the net on just seven occasions from 47 matches in all competitions.