Darwin Nunez has agreed to leave Al-Hilal this summer, barely a year after his £46 million move from Liverpool, in a development that could open the door to an unexpected Premier League return.
The Uruguayan striker met with the Saudi club’s ownership in recent days, with both parties accepting that his departure was the only sensible outcome given his near-complete absence from competitive action since February.
The root cause of Nunez’s nightmare in Riyadh was not form or fitness but bureaucracy. Saudi Pro League regulations cap foreign players born before 2003 in any squad at eight, and when Karim Benzema arrived in January, Al-Hilal made their choice quickly and ruthlessly. Nunez was cut from the registered squad, leaving him eligible only for AFC Champions League fixtures, a competition the club then exited in the last 16. He has not played in the Saudi league since and has been training separately from the main group for months.
The financial terms were extraordinary even by Saudi standards. Nunez was earning £400,000 per week, more than double his Anfield salary, but he has made clear throughout that his priority is playing rather than collecting a wage. Uruguayan outlet El Observador reports the striker has remained professional throughout a humiliating situation. Marcelo Bielsa has since dropped him from his starting position for the national team, giving the 26-year-old yet another reason to force a move before the summer World Cup in North America.
At Liverpool, Nunez scored 40 goals in 143 appearances across three seasons, a decent but unspectacular return that was consistently undermined by his erratic finishing. He did win a Premier League winner’s medal in 2024-25 and contributed important goals in title-decisive moments, but Arne Slot’s criticisms of his work rate late in that campaign effectively sealed his exit. Chelsea have been credited with interest as they continue their search for a reliable striker, while Juventus are also monitoring the situation.
A Chelsea move carries interesting logic. The west London club are searching for a striker profile that can complement or replace their existing options, and Nunez’s explosive physicality is the kind of presence their attack has lacked all season. Whether he can rediscover the form of his final Benfica season, where he scored 34 times in 41 games, will determine whether any club takes the gamble. Liverpool, meanwhile, stand to miss out on most of the £10.4 million in agreed add-ons, as those were tied to performance targets Nunez never came close to reaching in Riyadh.
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