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On the same day that Premier League champions Manchester City confirmed the signing of Erling Haaland, Liverpool’s own big early move of the summer transfer window was also announced as Benfica reached an agreement with the Reds over a deal for striker Darwin Nunez.
In a statement posted on the club’s official website early on Monday morning, the Portuguese giants announced the deal will be initially worth €75 million (£64m, $78.5m) though that fee could rise to as much as €100m should certain performance-based clauses be triggered further down the line.
Nunez, 22, is now set to sign a long-term contract at Anfield ahead of his transfer becoming rubber-stamped on the first day of July. The Uruguay international may also go on to become the Reds’ all-time record signing should his fee eventually eclipse the £75m paid to bring in Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in 2018.
The announcement comes in the wake of a breakthrough 2021-22 season in which Nunez hit new heights by scoring 34 goals in just 41 appearances for Benfica in all competitions. However, he ended the campaign with just a Taca da Liga runner-up medal to show for his efforts.
Having only scored 13 goals in 43 games the previous season, when he first joined Benfica from Almeria in the Spanish second tier, Nunez made such a mark last term that he was named the most valuable player playing outside Europe’s top five leagues last month by the CIES Football Observatory.
Here are the stats from Nunez’s amazing breakout year that convinced Liverpool he is the right player to help last season’s Premier League and Champions League runners-up to go one better, both at home and abroad, next term.
– O’Hanlon: Why Liverpool want Nunez (E+)
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Breaking down Nunez’s breakout year
Overall, Nunez has scored 47 goals in 84 games in his two seasons at Benfica. That’s a perfectly respectable return for a striker, but it is dragged down…
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Source : espn
