Liverpool have reached an agreement with Benfica to sign Darwin Nunez.
The Portuguese giants have officially announced the two clubs have agreed a €75million (around £64m) transfer fee for the Uruguayan forward, 22, with the figure rising to €100m (around £85.3m) with add-ons. The fee was agreed in the early hours of Monday morning and Liverpool are yet to announce the news.
The transfer is now expected to be completed and announced on Monday. Nunez has just completed a prolific season at Benfica, scoring 34 goals and providing four assists in 41 appearances. The former Almeria ace has 11 senior caps at international level.
"In the early morning hours of this Monday (0:44 am), Sport Lisboa e Benfica – Futebol, SAD informed the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) that it had reached an agreement with Liverpool FC for the sale of all rights to the player Darwin Nunez, for the amount of €75m," read an official Benfica statement.
"To the CMVM, Benfica's SAD also informed that the agreement provides for the payment of a variable remuneration, so the global amount of the sale could reach the amount of €100m. It is further informed that the aforementioned agreement is dependent on the signing of the player's sports employment contract with Liverpool FC."
Nunez impressed Jurgen Klopp after scoring in both legs of Benfica's Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool last season. He was linked with rivals Manchester United for several months, yet the Merseyside club have won the transfer race on this occasion.
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Nunez's arrival at Anfield will pave the way for Mane to join Bayern Munich in the coming weeks. The Senegal international, 30, has just one year left on his contract and it's believed he wants to move to Bavaria. Bayern have already had two transfer bids rejected, with Liverpool reportedly holding out for a fee of around £40m.
"You can see the thinking with Darwin Nunez," wrote Robbie Fowler in his most recent column for Mirror Football. "Mane is 30, he’s 22. Selling Mane could raise around £40m, and Nunez cost £80m. But - and this is a significant but - he’ll most likely be on less than half the wages Mane was asking for.
"Which over the course of a five year contract could save them all of that extra £40m. On top of that, it doesn’t break the wage structure. Looking at it that way, replacing a 30 year old with a 22 year old whilst keeping your financial house in order is a bloody good win for Liverpool."
Fowler went on to write: "Of course it’s a gamble. Any player coming into the Premier League is a gamble. Timo Werner was a gamble, hell, even Romelu Lukaku was a gamble for Chelsea, and he’d spent half his life in the Premier League.
"What I will say is, he’s scored a few goals in big games, scored in the Champions League, and even though he’s raw, there is clearly goalscoring quality within his play. And that is what Liverpool need. They’ve been brilliant this past year, but you look at the biggest games, and they didn’t always have that goalscoring edge.
"The Champions League final against Madrid was a game they should have won, but didn’t because of missed chances. Nunez could eventually be that striker to convert those chances. And if any manager is going to get it out of him, then it’s Klopp."
