Darwin Nunez's prospective Liverpool exit could have a knock-on effect on Wolves in the Premier League. That's because Atletico Madrid is reportedly looking at Nunez ahead of a possible summer swoop, which could affect Wolves in its attempt to offload Fabio Silva.
Silva joined Wolves in a big-money transfer in 2020 but has scored just five goals in 73 appearances for the Molineux club, and is spending this season on loan at Spanish outfit Las Palmas.
The 22-year-old is enjoying a good season there, having netted six goals in 15 league appearances to alert the attention of Atletico manager Diego Simeone.
It's reported by Caught Offside that Nunez, Silva and Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta are all on Atletico's shortlist of possible striker signings, and if the Spanish club plumps for Nunez, Wolves may have to look elsewhere in order to offload Silva, whose contract with the Premier League club expires in 2026.
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Liverpool received approaches from clubs in the Saudi Pro League for Nunez in January but Arne Slot opted to keep the Uruguayan as he didn't want to weaken his squad for the second half of the season.
The Reds expect there to be a strong market for Nunez in the summer window, though, and the expectation is that Nunez will be sold if the right offer arrives.
Nunez came in for criticism from Liverpool head coach Arne Slot recently over a perceived lack of effort in the games against Wolves and Aston Villa earlier in February.
"I helped him by saying you can miss a chance," Slot said on Tuesday after questioning Nunez's work rate following a glaring miss by the Uruguayan in the draw at Villa. "I wasn't only hard on him. But for the second time in a row I wasn't happy with his work effort, against Wolves and against Villa.
"I can't accept if a player doesn't give everything. That is clear. I can accept it once, but twice was a bit too much. That's why I addressed it. If you miss a chance, you need to be fighting for the team. I'm not saying he didn't do that at all, but it wasn't the usual Darwin, the one that is loved by the fans. That is mainly because he always works so hard."
Nunez emerged as a second-half substitute during the 2-0 win against Newcastle on Wednesday night, and Slot described all of the Liverpool players who featured in the match as "great", suggesting he was pleased with Nunez's response to the criticism.
