Fabrizio Romano claims Jurgen Klopp played a huge part in assuring Darwin Nunez that Liverpool was the best destination for him this summer. The journalist claims that Newcastle United made two approaches to sign the Uruguayan, firstly in January last season and then again last month.
However, the lure of Champions League football saw Nunez turn down a move to St. James' Park and opt to move to Anfield. The Reds saw off Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham and Real Madrid in order to secure Nunez's services, with the 23-year-old moving to Liverpool for around £75million.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “There were many clubs interested. In January, Arsenal and Newcastle made proposals for Nunez, but it was impossible for Benfica to sell the player in January.
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“On Deadline Day, West Ham made a proposal, same answer from Benfica: ‘No way will we let the player go now’. Also in June, Newcastle tried to jump into the race, they called his agents, but Darwin wanted Champions League football and he wanted Liverpool.”
Real Madrid were also in the race to sign Nunez after missing out on Kylian Mbappe earlier this summer, with the French forward signing a new deal at PSG. However, the Champions League winners could not register Nunes as they'd reached their quota of non-European players.
He added: “Real Madrid were very interested after missing out on Kylian Mbappe. But it was not possible due to the passport situation. Nunez has no European passport and they could not register him.
“Manchester United wanted him, with [manager] Erik ten Hag looking for a striker. Ten Hag was pushing for the deal, but United’s budget was very clear 70m (euros), including add-ons, no more than this.
“Liverpool are going to pay 75m guaranteed fee with add-ons to arrive at 100m euros as a complete package. Man United decided to leave the race because it was impossible to get into a bidding war with Liverpool.
“Jurgen Klopp was the key man. He makes the difference for Liverpool. He called Nunez directly and the player was really excited by the prospect of joining Liverpool. Then they were really fast.”
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