Liverpool have agreed a deal to sell Darwin Nunez to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal for an initial £46.2m.
The striker, who wanted to leave to go to Saudi Arabia in January, is set to end his three-season spell at Anfield, while Liverpool could now enter the market for another centre-forward.
They have had a £110m bid for Alexander Isak swiftly rejected by Newcastle and have indicated they will not raise their offer but are looking for a player they deem of sufficient quality to start, who is available and at what they regard as a fair price.
They have already signed one striker this summer, in Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt for £69m, and if they cannot add another, are aware that players such as Florian Wirtz, Rio Ngumoha, Curtis Jones and Jeremie Frimpong can all play in the front three if required.
Before Al Hilal made an offer that could rise to £56.6m, including add-ons, Nunez also attracted interest from AC Milan but there were doubts if the Serie A side could meet Liverpool’s asking price.
Napoli had bid for Nunez earlier in the summer, but without coming close to a sum Liverpool would accept and when they wanted to defer the first payment until 2026, before instead signing attacker Lorenzo Lucca.
Nunez joined Liverpool for £64m in 2022, with add-ons taking the potential fee to a club record of £85m. He scored 15 goals in his first season in England and 18 in the second but got just seven in 47 appearances in all competitions last year as Arne Slot preferred to use either the late Diogo Jota or Luis Diaz as his centre-forward.
Liverpool rejected Nunez’s request to leave in mid-season, wanting to keep him to help their successful bid to win a 20th league title.
Should he go now leave, Liverpool will have brought in around £190m for players this summer, following Tyler Morton’s move to Lyon for £15m.
