Darwin Nunez was reportedly the subject of two transfer bids from Saudi Arabia in the January window, with talks at an advanced stage – making a recent joke all the more telling.
There was a lot of talk of Nunez’s future throughout the winter window with interest from AC Milan and Saudi Arabia readily reported by various outlets.
Late in the window, the Telegraph‘s Mike McGrath reported that Saudi’s Al-Hilal were ready to make an offer for Nunez and were prepared to pay “around £29 million per year” to sign him.
That would have been an eye-watering £558,000 a week, an astonishing increase on his current wage at Liverpool which is thought to be closer to £120,000 a week.
And on Tuesday, journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed, via Give Me Sport, that rival Al-Nassr sent two offers to Liverpool to secure his services – the second was said to be in excess of £62.4 million, plus add-ons.
He reports that the Saudi club were “in very advanced talks with Nunez” and were “confident of getting the green light from the player,” but Liverpool blocked the move as they didn’t have time to find a replacement.
You could not dispute Liverpool’s position despite the allure of the transfer fee reported as the club will be more willing to decide his future in the summer.
It does however make the joke from Nunez, who was not spotted in Tuesday’s training session ahead of the trip to Everton, on Saudi wages all the more intriguing after a video from Pro:Direct Soccer came to light.
Darwin Nunez joking around with Luis Diaz about wanting to go Saudi for the money ?#LFC
(@prodirect on YouTube) pic.twitter.com/9oXxVyxvQD
— • (@a22_mir) February 11, 2025
In the clip, Nunez and Luis Diaz are discussing his car collection and the Uruguayan said, “I need more money,” before looking at the camera and winking.
When the host discussed increasing the bonuses on his current deal with more goals, Nunez whispered: “Come on Saudi.”
It is mostly harmless and it is no doubt something players regularly joke about considering the ludicrous sums, although it is not exactly tasteful from a Liverpool perspective!
But it is perhaps telling in light of all the reports linking him to Saudi.
Nunez remains Liverpool’s club-record signing and it would not be unrealistic to say the club will be considering a sale in the summer, and Nunez evidently isn’t against a possible move to Saudi should their interest remain.