Liverpool look ever-closer to a much-changed attack, with news of Darwin Nunez‘s transfer today and the expectation that he’ll see Sadio Mane depart Anfield shortly.
How Mane deal makes financial sense for Reds
Nobody really wants to see Sadio Mane leave Liverpool, but there’s an acceptance that he’s given us more than was ever expected, he’s won everything and he deserves to depart on good terms if that’s his choice this summer.
If so, we need to land a good fee for him and two rejected bids already show Liverpool are holding firm for their valuation of around £40m for the forward.
The Mirror’s David Maddock has detailed exactly how that’s likely to go a large part of the way toward paying for the signing of Darwin Nunez, over the long term proving some shrewd mathematics.
For starters, it’s claimed that Mane will be earning around £360,000 a week at the Allianz Arena across a three-year deal, which would be approximately double what Nunez is expected to be paid by the Reds.
That equates to around a £30m saving on one player’s salary compared to the other’s for the Reds – then factoring in the £40m we’re hoping to get in transfer fees, and the £70m overall chunk of accountancy gymnastics will pay all the up-front fee for Nunez to Benfica and some of the add-on clauses, too. As such, it might end up being perhaps only £15m or so extra to land the Uruguayan and replace Mane for a considerable length of time.
Meanwhile, the Senegal boss has backed Mane’s move to Bavaria, saying he’ll feel “best” there.
3 things today: Darwin, Nunez, Ribeiro!
- The Uruguayan is on his way! Benfica confirmed a €100m agreement this morning, while media that side of the water have detailed what will trigger the add-on payments
- Luis Suarez and Edi Cavani sounds like a decent hybrid forward?! That’s what a team-mate of Nunez’s believes we’ll be getting, with his work rate, power and goal-getting ability all offering him up as an exciting addition
- Reds fans think they’ve spotted a crazy similarity between Nunez’s goals and those of Fernando Torres – so watch all 26 of his in the league last season and judge for yourself!
Latest Liverpool FC news
- One report suggests Liverpool are ready to loan Nat Phillips again instead of selling him this season, touting him as a successor for Joel Matip another year down the line
- While the Reds’ hunt for a new right-back has taken a hit, with Aberdeen almost doubling their demands to sign youngster Calvin Ramsay this summer
- And finally, Kostas Tsimikas played his fourth 90-minute game in 10 days as three more Reds took part in Nations League action last night
Latest Premier League chat
- Man City have completed the signing of Erling Haaland for £51m or about £300m, depending on how you want to see it. Assuming the Grealish price:minutes ratio comes into play, he’s only starting about 12 games next season either way
- Man United have opted to simply rebuild Ten Hag’s favourite Ajax team, which is good news for Sub van de Beek but presumably means Ronaldo is out and Dusan Tadic soon to be in. Anyway, Frenkie de Jong and Antony are on the way
- And Christian Eriksen has decided to say thanks to Brentford giving him a beautiful chance in the Premier League by bidding them a swift farewell and heading back to former lovers Spurs
Tweet of the day and match of the night
Still waiting for Jelavic to be better than Suarez tbh.
Tottenham are apparently close to signing Richarlison for £50 million. If that deal does go through, it makes the Darwin Nunez deal look like a bloody steal! ?
— Zubin Daver (@zubinofficial) June 12, 2022
Tonight’s game is France-Croatia in the Nations. Or there’s Australia vs Peru in a World Cup playoff final!
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