Is Darwin Núñez leaving Liverpool? Everything we know so far

Liverpool striker Darwin Núñez has been linked with an exit from the club. It's been suggested that Barcelona is among the interested parties.

Links have spiraled over the past few days. They began in earnest a week ago, when Spanish outlet Sport credited Barcelona with an interest.

And events at Liverpool have conspired to stoke the flames. Núñez has cut an increasingly frustrated figure at Anfield lately, and was pictured walking straight down the tunnel with his head bowed after coming on as a late substitute in the win over Tottenham.

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As with all of the evidence surrounding a potential departure for Núñez, that's highly circumstantial. Indeed, Mohamed Salah was involved in a similar show of frustration mere games earlier, having been left on the bench for the majority of the draw with West Ham United.

However, a series of isolated incidents are starting to create a worrying picture of a dissatisfied player. Around the same time, Núñez deleted all but one photo with any reference to Liverpool from his Instagram profile, a modern classic for wantaway stars.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, many of the people involved in signing Núñez for a club-record fee are on their way out. It's believed Jürgen Klopp pushed for the transfer, and he's set to be replaced by Arne Slot, while former sporting director Michael Edwards (who left shortly before the striker arrived) is now the CEO of Football for FSG.

Julian Ward, who took over from Edwards and on whose watch Núñez was technically signed originally, is also returning to the club this summer as technical director. Whether that provides an ally for the forward remains to be seen.

So, is Darwin Núñez leaving Liverpool?

A pressing question if Núñez is to leave Liverpool is who is buying him, and for how much. Ultimately, that's likely to act as a stumbling block, unless the Reds are ready to take a huge loss on their initial outlay of up to $106m (£85m/€98m).

Barcelona, the most touted suitor, is notoriously restricted in its transfer spending, and it recently emerged that it will shy away from pursuing Luis Díaz over cost concerns. You would assume that this also more or less precludes a deal for Núñez, with Liverpool likely to ask for at least as much.

Liverpool.com says: As things stand, it looks like Núñez will probably stay at Liverpool and be given a chance to prove himself under the new boss, likely Arne Slot. His potential is still clear for all to see, even if he has been the cause of a lot of frustration in front of goal.

However, talk over his future at the club cannot be dismissed as idle speculation. It seems obvious at this point that Núñez is not entirely happy, at the very least, and we can expect the transfer talk to rumble on throughout the summer.