One of Liverpool’s great strengths this season has been their enviable depth in attack. Mo Salah may be occupying much of the limelight given his astonishing record of 18 goals and 13 assists in 19 Premier League games, but others are chipping in too.
Cody Gakpo, after an inconsistent start to his Liverpool career, has caught fire under Arne Slot, netting his 12th goal of the season in all competitions with a sumptuous finish against Manchester United on Sunday.
Luis Diaz has been exceptional too, while the fit-again Diogo Jota is always a goal threat. But there is one forward who has been notably less impressive than the others, and whose future at the club is becoming uncertain: Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool star Darwin Nunez deemed surplus to requirements
According to Football Insider, Liverpool are “open” to selling Nunez in the January transfer window and would accept offers in the region of £50-60 million.
Newcastle are reportedly interested in the Uruguay international, who has largely flattered to deceive since his £85m move from Benfica in 2022. Despite showing some promise and scoring 18 goals in all competitions last season, Nunez has only netted four times in 24 appearances this term.
There is said to be interest in the 25-year-old, although Football Insider claim “he is not one of Eddie Howe’s targets for the upcoming transfer window”.
Newcastle would only likely enter the race to sign Nunez should star striker Alexander Isak be sold, with growing speculation about the Swede’s future. He has 13 goals in 18 league games and is amongst the world’s in-form strikers.
Nunez is a long way off Isak’s level of consistency, though competition for places at Liverpool has often meant periods out of the starting XI.
If the asking price is met and Nunez is sold, Liverpool are expected to use the funds to reinvest in the team as they look for another Premier League title and continue to challenge in the Champions League.
Slot backed Nunez last month but admitted the striker was perhaps guilty of forcing the issue. "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,” Slot said.
"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."
