Liverpool has agreed to sell Darwin Núñez to Al-Hilal. If the player agrees to personal terms, Liverpool could receive €53m, according to Fabrizio Romano.
For the longest time, Liverpool has needed a striker to come in and score a multitude of goals. In recent history, it has been their wingers who have been doing the job by finding the back of the net.
And that's no disrespect to Roberto Firmino, who brought his own style of play to the Liverpool team. Under Jurgen Klopp, this worked, and Bobby is remembered as a club legend despite his playing style leaning itself to creativity rather than goal scoring.
Under Arne Slot, though, Liverpool needs to take a new direction. Darwin Núñez is not quite the striker fans thought he would be, and a new direction is needed before he becomes the villain in this story.
Darwin Núñez is obviously a brilliant striker. His skillset is clear as day and he's a joy to watch, with or without the ball. However, he's not quite at the level that Liverpool needs. Hence they the Reds are eager to sell him this summer.
Liverpool might receive €53m for Darwin Núñez
According to an update from Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool now knows the price they could receive for Darwin. Al-Hilal has struck an agreement to pay Liverpool €53m (£46m) as an initial fee, plus add-ons.
Next up, Darwin will discuss personal terms with Al Hilal. Club-to-club negotiations are believed to be '100% done,' now the ball is in Darwin' scourt.
This is just over half of the fee that Liverpool originally paid for Darwin when they signed him from Benfica a few seasons ago. Now, Liverpool is set to lose money on his sale, despite the striker entering the prime stages of his career.
So, through no fault of his own, Darwin's transfer to Liverpool can be considered a financial failure. Liverpool is usually good with being reserved in their transfer fees, but they took a gamble when signing Darwin. Now, that gamble has failed and it's bitten Liverpool in the backside.
On the flipside, Liverpool did win the league with Darwin in the team. While he didn't do too much to make a name for himself, he didn't do anything to harm his legacy either.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again; Darwin didn't decide his own valuation. Liverpool did. It's not his fault he didn't live up to his price tag; it's Liverpool's for paying that price tag in the first place.
Even the best can make mistakes sometimes, but it's great that Liverpool has decided to sell now before his price tag plummets even further.