What is going on in the mind of Darwin Nunez? It’s a question Liverpool fans have pondered on more than a few occasions during his time at Anfield.
Ever since he made the $106m (£85m/€100m) move from Benfica, the Uruguayan has been something of a mystery wrapped in an enigma. He delights fans with his work rate and by wearing his heart on his sleeve on the pitch, but he frustrates in equal measure with the decisions he makes in front of goal.
That frustration has threatened to boil over at times, and it would probably be fair to say the jury is no longer out for a lot of supporters. The verdict seems to be that, into his third season with the Reds with little sign of Nunez improving his goals return, Liverpool should be considering offloading him if the chance arrives.
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That opportunity may have come sooner than anyone at Anfield would have hoped. According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool rejected two big-money bids from Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr during the winter transfer window, owing to the fact that there wasn’t a replacement lined up.
Instead, the club that employs Cristiano Ronaldo turned its attention to Jhon Duran, splashing out $80m (£64.5m/€77m) for the shock move from Aston Villa. Of course, that doesn’t mean a move to the Middle East is out of the question for Nunez - and it seems he might be more aware of that than anyone realized.
Appearing in a " target="_blank" class="link"> Pro:Direct Soccer video, Nunez and Luis Diaz discussed which Liverpool player has the best car, with the latter teasing his teammate about owning five of them. When Diaz called him “big money”, Nunez rather dryly responded “I need more money” - suggesting he might well have picked up the British sense of humor after nearly three years in the country.
When the host suggests ways that Nunez can earn a bit more cash, the striker covers his mouth before whispering: “Come on Saudi”.
We know jokes don’t always come across well when written down, so it is worth pointing out that Nunez absolutely made the comment in jest, and he got the laugh out of Diaz that he was aiming for.
The question is, how much can you read into a joke? Despite the obvious language barrier, it does at least seem as though Nunez is well aware that he’s being linked with a move to the Middle East. Whether he actually wants the move is another matter, but the fact that he’s acknowledging the interest in some manner might point to there being more than a grain of truth in the recent claims about his future.
The fact is, if Liverpool is to recoup some of the money it spent on signing Nunez, then it is probably going to come from offloading him to Saudi Arabia. As uneasy as it will make some fans to see more and more players making the move there - this writer included - from a purely financial perspective, it might be a bit of a no-brainer for the Reds.
It does feel as though Liverpool needs to call it quits on the Nunez experiment after three years. The right decision was made to keep hold of him last month, but if Nunez’s tongue-in-cheek comment is anything to go by, perhaps a summer move isn’t out of the question.
