Liverpool are ready to sacrifice Darwin Nunez – despite his heroics at the weekend.
The Uruguayan target man popped up with an injury-time brace to sink Brentford and keep Liverpool's breathing space at the top of the Premier League. The two goals turned out to be even more precious, too, with Arsenal dropping points later that afternoon.
But Nunez, who is the Reds' second-most expensive signing ever, has struggled to regularly break into manager Arne Slot's starting line-up – and has been linked with an exit.
Liverpool moving for superstar wonderkid, posing questions over Darwin Nunez's future
Slot began the season with Diogo Jota leading the line for his side. With Luis Diaz entering form, however – the Colombian is ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the best left-wingers in the world right now – Slot has used him up front as a false nine in his 4-2-3-1 either side of Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.
Nunez has had minutes hard to come by and has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, but now perhaps the clearest indication yet has come that the Merseysiders want an upgrade up front.
According to a report from Fussball News in Germany, Liverpool are setting their sights on the much-wanted Stefanos Tzimas.
The Greek teenager is on loan at Nurnburg from PAOK and has been a revelation in the Bundesliga.2, netting seven in his first 13 and attracting attention from other European giants. Sky Germany notes that though Liverpool have already made contact over signing the star for around €25 million, they face competition from Eintracht Frankfurt, who have lost Omar Marmoush to Manchester City this month.
asromalive, meanwhile, claims that Roma are also battling the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus for the player they label “the bomber of the future.”
FourFourTwo understands that though the Reds are looking to secure Mohamed Salah to a new deal, such a contract extension certainly doesn't prevent them from signing his successor.
The club may have to be quick to secure Tzimas, however, with serious competition from some of the biggest sides in Europe.
Tzimas is worth €10m, according to Transfermarkt. Liverpool take on Lille this week when Champions League action returns.
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Liverpool are looking to secure successors to their top talent, along with keeping the current stars at the club, says transfer expert
Transfer expert Ben Jacobs told FourFourTwo on January 13 that the club's transfer strategy involves securing the future at the same time as the present – meaning that a move for a developing centre-forward may just put a little more pressure on Nunez, rather than forcing him out of the door.
“So in an ideal world, Liverpool renew Van Dijk and Salah, while simultaneously in 2025 looking to replace them,” Jacobs said. “It means that the player may extend and have between one and three years at the club, whilst their younger replacement acclimatises, and then it makes the transition much more seamless.
“This is why there's such a desire to extend Salah and Van Dijk: not just because they're phenomenal players for now, but it gives a bit of breathing room and development space for whoever they bring in in those positions, so they don't necessarily have the pressure of having to start every game and give the same kind of output as Van Dijk and Salah from Day One.
“And if you build that forward planning, then to an extent, sometimes the club are signing a player before people even realise that they need that player, and that's just ultimately a indication of a well-run and diligent recruitment model.”
