Al-Hilal has seen an $85 million bid for Darwin Nunez rejected by Liverpool, with director Michael Edwards keen to extract as much value out of the 25-year-old as possible.

Nunez has failed to impress head coach Arne Slot since who replaced Jurgen Klopp in the summer, with the Uruguayan striker struggling for consistency. Nunez was signed by Klopp in the summer of 2022 for $78 million, and while he's a popular figure among fans, he hasn't progressed at the rate Liverpool expected.

According to Anfield Watch, Al-Hilal is keen to bring Nunez to the Saudi Pro League and sees him as a replacement for Neymar, who could leave the club this month. Liverpool has rejected the first offer for Nunez, but aren't against selling the player in January.

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It's thought that Liverpool is holding out for a fee in the region of $103 million for Nunez, but may settle for $91.5 million should the striker agree to leave the club. Nunez's relationship with the fans is starting to sour, and Slot appears to have lost confidence in him also.

Nunez remains an exciting talent, and often finds himself in the right positions, but lacks the ruthless streak that world-class strikers boast. Slot has made it clear via his team selection that Diogo Jota is his preferred No. 9 when fit, and even when the Portuguese forward was out injured, the head coach turned to Luis Diaz.

In December, Slot accused Nunez of 'wanting it too much', which was disrupting his output on the pitch. "For me, he has an impact," Slot said. "If you only look at goals, he hasn't scored the amount of goals he wants to score, or we want our No. 9 to score, but he does have impact in his work rate.

"He's part of a team that is scoring a lot of goals and is winning a lot. But of course, as a No. 9 you want to score goals and that's definitely what he wants as well. I'm not only judging Mo [Salah] on his goals. I'm not only judging Darwin on his goals.

"I'm judging them on their work rate and what they bring to the team and that has been positive until now. Maybe also because the fans support him so much, maybe he wants it almost too much to score for himself and also for the fans because they've been very supportive of him."

One fan and former Liverpool player who hasn't been supportive of Nunez is Robbie Fowler, who questioned his future at the club on Saturday. Nunez failed to score in a 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley in the third round of the FA Cup, despite playing the full 90 minutes.

After the game, Fowler said live on ITV: "We’re saying the same things now that we’re saying two or three years ago. He’s raw, he’s this, he’s that, and we can’t keep saying that. The more I see him, the more I think he’s not a Liverpool player."

The inconsistency from Nunez has seen him drop to third choice in the No. 9 position, and even though he's capable of playing on the left wing, Cody Gakpo has earned that role also. Liverpool will now wait to see how Al-Hilal responds, and whether other Saudi clubs will consider a bidding war.