Darwin Nunez has agreed a six-year contract with Liverpool, tying him down to 2028, as he concludes his potential £85 million switch from Benfica this week.
Nunez is undergoing the final stages of his medical on Tuesday, and has already been pictured outside the club’s AXA Training Centre in Kirkby.
The 22-year-old will become Liverpool’s most expensive signing ever if all performance-related targets are reached, though according to the Times‘ Paul Joyce, the full fee will only be paid if at least one Champions League is won.
Joyce has detailed the agreed deal between Liverpool and Benfica – which the Portuguese club announced on Monday as being worth an initial £64.02 million with a further £21.34 million in add-ons – along with the finalised contract.
The club have reportedly pledged around £43.7 million in wages over the course of six years, with Nunez earning close to £140,000 a week.
This would put him below the very top earners at Anfield such as Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Thiago, but sees parity with many of the most important players in Jurgen Klopp‘s squad.
It all points to a key role for the Uruguayan, who scored 34 times in 41 games for Benfica last season, as he prepares to replace Sadio Mane.
Divock Origi has already left, ahead of a proposed free transfer to AC Milan, while Mane is pushing to join Bayern Munich and Takumi Minamino is attracting interest from five clubs including Monaco.
Salah is still contracted until 2023, as is Roberto Firmino, while the pair of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota are committed to long-term deals.
It remains to be seen how Liverpool will line up in their first competitive game of the season – the Community Shield against Man City on July 30 – but many expect Salah, Diaz and Nunez to be Klopp’s new first-choice trio in attack.
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