When Darwin Núñez entered the Premier League scene as a Liverpool player in 2022, there were two factors that from the first game “ruined” the energetic Uruguayan striker. The first, was the massive £64 million price tag. The other factor was a Norwegian light slug. This was the summer Erling Haaland also went to the Premier League, comparisons between Liverpool’s and City’s big investment in the striker position came from day one. With this, Darwin Nunez had to deliver extremely goals, just to meet expectations. This did not happen, last summer the 26-year-old disappeared to the “Ronaldo League”. After six months+, Nunez has already been squeezed out.
According to German Sky Sports, the Saudi Arabian club is said to have paid Liverpool just over 53 million euros, plus bonuses to Liverpool, while Nunez himself rakes in an extreme 15 million euros in annual salary, excluding bonuses.
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Even though it is Saudi Arabian football, expectations for deliveries are still high. Nunez brings with him the status of “former Liverpool player” but has clearly not lived up to expectations.
According to The Athletic, after nine goals in 24 games, the striker has been ruled out of Al-Hilal’s squad for the rest of the Saudi Pro League season. The reason is that Saudi clubs are only allowed to have eight foreign players born before 2003 in their 25-man squad. Karim Benzema, who has just arrived from Al Ittihad, has taken Nunez’s place.
The Athletic adds that the appetite for success among the biggest clubs in Saudi Arabia is enormous, so when the chance to sign Benzema came, they took it without blinking. This is despite the fact that such an expensive signing as Núñez had to be thrown aside.
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