Liverpool were ‘very close’ to selling Darwin Nunez but blocked deal for two reasons

Liverpool rejected more than £ 62 million for Darwin Nunez in January, while Saudi-Arab side al-Nassr pursued his signature.

Nunez, 25, was connected to an exit before the Deadline Day of the transfer in the midst of his fight in the third season in Anfield. The Uruguayan striker, which came to Liverpool in 2022 in 2022 for a club record costs of £ 85 million, has scored only six goals this period and is unable to make a regular starter among the new Arne Slot manager.

Al-Nassr was reportedly deep in the negotiations, but eventually turned to Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran. That means that Nunez will still be part of Slot's team for the second half of this season, while Liverpool chases the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup trophies.

But it was not a cash that the problem was, because the second offer of Al-Nassr of more than £ 62 million was close to the appreciation of Nunez of Liverpool, according to reports from Italy. The Reds still consider Nunez as an important part of Slot's future plans on Anfield and had also not been replaced in the last beats of the winter window.

Those two reasons are the reason why he was left, so that the 25-year-old continues to fight to prove himself on Merseyside. Slot's comments about Nunez suggest that he still has faith in him, even though he has been scoring in one match only since December 18.

“He has an impact for me,” Last month said. “If you only look at goals, he has not scored the amount of goals he wants to score, or we want a number nine to score, but he has an impact in his working speed. He is part of a team that scores many goals And wins a lot.

“Of course, as number nine you want to score more goals and that is definitely what he wants. But I not only assess Mohamed Salah on his goals and Darwin about his goals – I also judge them on their work costs and what they bring to the team The fans support him so much that he might be too much.

Nunez will hope to hit the back of the net in Wednesday's Merseyside Derby, while Liverpool travel to Everton in Goodison Park for the last time. The Reds then continued their Premier League title levy at home to Wolves on Sunday afternoon.