Has that been confirmed ?
If 75m transfer is mere on 100k pw, he needs to fire his agent and have him flogged.
Joyce has it at slightly more than I was hearing at around £140K P/W through 6 years.
Which is a big basic for us as hefty as our incentives always are. Much easier doubling/ trippling a Portugueses guys contract than trying to get an existing PL player already on stupid money.
Footage that put Jürgen Klopp on trail of £64m striker Darwin Núñez
Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
Tuesday June 14 2022, 12.01am, The Times
As Liverpool’s preparations intensified for their Champions League quarter-final with Benfica, Jürgen Klopp’s interest was piqued by the tall striker who had already demonstrated a penchant for upsetting Europe’s elite.
The clips produced by the club’s analysts focused heavily on Darwin Núñez, who had been crucial in the Portuguese side’s run to the last eight of the competition with goals in the group stages against Bayern Munich and Barcelona together with the winning strike against Ajax in the round of 16.
It was as Klopp studied the footage at the club’s AXA Training Centre that the Liverpool manager fell in love, according to one source, with the idea of signing Núñez, his imagination having been fired by the 22-year-old’s blistering pace, eye for goal and workrate.
Nothing that transpired across the two games (Núñez scored home and away in a 6-4 aggregate defeat) led to Klopp reappraising that initial impression when he subsequently saw the Uruguayan up close.
Three months later, and with Manchester United outmanoeuvred by Liverpool’s streamlined approach, Núñez is set to sign in what could eventually be a club-record deal. A medical examination will continue on today. The breakdown of the transfer fee — an initial £64 million, plus around £21 million in add-ons — is important. Benfica will receive £75 million if Núñez plays regularly, but the rest of the bonuses are linked to player success, in terms of goals scored, and team success. The full amount will only be payable if Liverpool win the Champions League.
Núñez’s wage is likely to be around £140,000-a-week which, over the course of a six-year contract, equates to £43.7 million. It is a huge financial commitment for a player who has had two years in Portugal following a move from Spain’s Almería in 2020 for €24 million (about £20.6 million).
While Núñez started through the centre and moved onto the left during his appearance at Anfield in April, his arrival would represent a break from the multi-functional players that Liverpool have sourced in the past.
The desire for constant evolution means it will be up to Klopp and his assistants to ensure that the team can be tweaked to play to the strengths of the forward, who scored 34 goals last term.
Liverpool will report back for pre-season training on July 4 and whether Núñez is there then or not, due to his international commitments, the fact he will have the whole of pre-season to acclimatise to his new club is viewed as crucial. Núñez does not speak English but, after two years with Benfica, he can speak Portuguese, the language which assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders and Vitor Matos, the elite development coach, use to communicate at the training ground.
The fact that Luis Díaz, who arrived from Porto in January amid interest from Tottenham Hotspur, hit the ground running despite speaking no English will bolster Klopp’s belief that the assimilation of Núñez can be seamless.
This time it was United who were left to rue Liverpool’s recruitment team, who are always drawing up shortlists of targets, and the reluctance of Sadio Mané to enter into talks to extend his contract meant there was added meaning to their work. Julian Ward, the club’s new sporting director, used his contacts in Portugal to ensure Liverpool was Núñez’s preferred destination, which prevented a bidding war developing with United. Ward previously worked as head of analysis and technical scouting for Portugal and was Liverpool’s European scouting manager for Spain and Portugal between 2012 and 2015.
Liverpool remain interested in Aberdeen’s Calvin Ramsay, 18, and have bid £4 million plus add-ons. The Scottish club want bonuses which would reach nearer £10 million. It is likely that a midfielder will be targeted next summer.
Núñez’s debut could come against United in Bangkok on July 12. After United, Liverpool face Crystal Palace in Singapore on July 15 before heading to Austria for a training camp. Games are planned against RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg prior to the Community Shield match with Manchester City.
Liverpool versus City, Klopp versus Guardiola and now Núñez versus the new City striker Erling Haaland is a mouthwatering aperitif to the season.
