While the pacy frontman has shown flashes of brilliance, his stint in England has largely been characterised by wasteful finishing, poor interplay and struggles to stay onside.
New manager Arne Slot wasted no time installing Diogo Jota as his preferred striker earlier this season. Jota’s rib injury offered Nunez a chance to prove his manager wrong, though a return of three goals in 19 matches will have done little to change Slot’s mind.
And according to a fresh update from Sports Illustrated, Liverpool could soon have the chance to cut their losses on Nunez.It’s claimed both he and left-back Kostas Tsimikas have ‘great admirers’ in the form of Atletico Madrid and manager Diego Simeone. What’s more, Atleti tasked scouts with watching Liverpool’s clash with Girona on Wednesday in which Nunez started.
Interest from afar and scouting missions is as far as Atleti’s attempts to engineer a transfer for either player has progressed as yet.
Nonetheless, one observer who believes Nunez’s future lays away from Anfield is club legend Jamie Carragher.Speaking on The Overlap last week, Carragher said of Nunez: “I’m not sure he’s here next year.
“I think he’ll probably move on. He’s more like a cult hero because he’s a bit mad and he likes to run around, but he’s better than [Divock] Origi.”
Another Euro giant interested / Slot speaks on Nunez
TEAMtalk have been informed Atletico Madrid aren’t the only European powerhouse sensing an opportunity with Nunez.
Our insider, Fraser Gillan, has been told AC Milan are fans of the hit-and-miss striker too.
In the event Liverpool were to cash in on Nunez in 2025, logic would dictate a direct replacement would be sought.Slot has largely resisted the temptation to use Cody Gakpo up front like former boss Jurgen Klopp did. The Dutchman greatly favours the left-wing role and that’s primarily where he’s played while splitting time with Luis Diaz this season.
Diaz has occasionally been deployed up top under Slot, though is a makeshift striker at best. As such, Jota would be the only specialist striker on the books if Nunez were sold.
And given Jota’s tendency of spending lengthy spells on the treatment table, Nunez leaving must be followed by a new face arriving.
Slot’s stance on whether to stick or twist on Nunez is not yet clear, with the manager still less than half a season into his tenure.
However, Slot did speak extensively about Nunez during a press conference on Friday amid increasing criticism of the striker’s displays.“For me, he has impact,” said Slot (as quoted by Liverpool Echo). “He hasn’t scored the amount of goals he or we want. But he has impact in his work-rate.
“He is part of a team that scores a lot of goals and wins a lot. I don’t only judge Darwin on his goals.”
On yet another frustrating display from Nunez against Girona, Slot added: “We all saw it did something to him when he missed the chances. I think every one needs an arm around like this. But I made it clear to him he is not only judged on the goals he scored. Ideally he scores more.
“The last half an hour against Girona was not up to the standards and that was due to the chances he missed.”That development has put Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal on alert. In a boost for the Reds, a separate report from The Telegraph revealed Zubimendi is unlikely to pick Man City amid fears he’d be relegated to the bench when Rodri returns to full fitness.
TEAMtalk understands Liverpool fully intend to bid again for Zubimendi in January as part of a £91m double signing.
Elsewhere, Brazilian outlet UOL claimed Liverpool will open talks with Brighton in January regarding Joao Pedro.
In lieu of Brighton being notoriously tough negotiators, Liverpool aim to get the ball rolling in January ahead of Pedro arriving at Anfield in the summer.
Pedro can operate up front or behind the striker in the No 10 role usually occupied by Dominik Szoboszlai. He’s scored 24 goals in 49 matches since joining Brighton for £30m in 2023.
