Liverpool must axe “frustrating” star who Klopp loved

How will Liverpool look on the opening day of the 2025/26 campaign?

Will Arne Slot be watching on as Conor Bradley completed the first day of his new first-choice duties at right-back, or will a fresh face take on the job, replacing Real Madrid-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold?

So much could change over the coming months. For one thing, a new team will be etched onto the Premier League title, Liverpool set to replace Manchester City as the division’s kingpin, 12 points clear of second-place Arsenal with nine games to play.

But more concerning eventualities must be addressed in due course too. Indeed, Alexander-Arnold isn’t the only high-profile Reds star potentially leaving Anfield this summer.

The players leaving Liverpool this summer

The Times’ Paul Joyce – typically an unerring source of news – revealed in the wake of the latest batch of Trent-related developments that optimism remains that Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will be Liverpool players next season, though there has been a breakthrough in neither contractual case yet.

However, there are a host of players who FSG are more eager to part ways with. Sporting director Richard Hughes has got his work cut out, with a flagging frontline facing quite the reshuffle.

According to Sky Germany earlier this month, each of Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez could be sold this summer in a sweeping clearout.

While Jota and Diaz have suffered rebuke for their profligate performances of late, Nunez’s conundrum is of a deeper nature. It doesn’t feel like there’s a way back for the Uruguayan, whose departure must be prioritised this summer.

Why Liverpool must axe Darwin Nunez

Oh, Nunez. Time is running out for the likeable striker to turn his Liverpool career around. In fact, the nine remaining fixtures of the 2024/25 campaign most likely won’t be enough for him to salvage his career in Red.

Liverpool signed Nunez from Benfica in a deal worth £85m (a club record) after the end of the 2021/22 season, a prudent move given Roberto Firmino was entering the final year of his deal.

It had so much promise, so much anticipation. Almost two years into his time in the Premier League, Klopp remarked that the maverick has “quality coming out of his ears” after bagging twice in the Europa League against Sparta Prague, but such moments have sadly been few and far between for a player who has failed to hit the heights.

Indeed, Nunez has scored only 25 goals from 88 Premier League matches. Erling Haaland, who signed for Manchester City in the same window, has posted 84 from 94 – just a bit of context.

There’s always been something frenetic and exciting about the way the number nine plays, however. At least, that was the case under Klopp’s wing. Slot, for all his brilliance, has failed to spark development from this South American star, who has only scored seven goals across all competitions this season.

The 25-year-old’s growth in front of goal has, sadly, been negligible. While Nunez is statistically far less wasteful this season, his actual influence in the final third has been unacceptable, lacking the authority and nous to get into space and fire on goal with the regularity and precision required.

Saudi Pro League giants Al-Nassr made their move in January but failed to convince Liverpool to part with their struggling striker. Chiefly, this is because FSG were reluctant to sell a first-team regular at the midpoint of a title-chasing campaign. This has borne fruit insofar as Nunez has remained a presence and will likely leave as a Premier League champion.

And let’s not forget: Nunez did score a stunning off-the-bench brace against Brentford in January, pricelessly advancing Slot’s cause after successive draws against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. Arsenal dropped off at the same point, but it gave Liverpool the boost to peel away and establish a formidable gulf.

Nunez’s less-than-extensive goal catalogue at Anfield has been frustrating to watch. Here is a striker bearing all the parts to become a superstar. Klopp might have made the wrong move in signing him for a rising club-record fee, but it wasn’t a ridiculous move.

At Benfica, Nunez fired home 34 goals from 41 appearances across the 2021/22 campaign, five of which came in the Champions League against opponents such as Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

It’s crucial he’s sold this summer. Nunez is one of the club’s highest earners at £140k per week, with those earnings meaning he has already pocketed over £20m since joining the Merseysiders nearly three years ago. The Athletic’s JJ Bull has described Nunez as being “frustrating to watch”, largely because there is clearly so much untapped potential.

Combine that with the £85m figure, and Nunez may well have bled Liverpool about £105m by the time he’s sold this summer. And if Liverpool do cash in, you can bet your bottom dollar they won’t be recouping their outlay in its totality.

With the likes of Alexander Isak and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane being linked with a summer move to Anfield, it really is imperative Nunez is sold, lest Slot enter his second campaign with bitter longing for parts that were not provided – not even after winning the Premier League title.