Luis Suárez already sent message to Barcelona as Darwin Núñez takes drastic Liverpool action
There’s never a dull moment with Darwin Núñez. Even when he’s not on the pitch, he has managed to grab the headlines.
The Uruguay international is the talk among Liverpool fans today after he seemingly deleted nearly all traces of the Reds from his Instagram account. Only one picture remains of him at the club’s training ground, although his bio still includes Liverpool, while his profile picture shows him in action for the Reds.
The drastic measure comes amid questions over his future at Anfield. Núñez is without a goal in his last eight games, and he has found himself falling behind Cody Gakpo in the pecking order in recent games.
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Despite being the second for goals and assists for the club this season, Liverpool fans have grown frustrated with his profligacy in front of goal. The situation has perhaps reached boiling point amid his barren spell in recent weeks, particularly after he spurned a golden opportunity during the Merseyside derby defeat to Everton.
That has led to questions being asked over his future ahead of the new era at Liverpool. Arne Slot is set to succeed Jürgen Klopp as manager this summer, with new sporting director Richard Hughes and FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards set to have a big say in who comes and goes from Anfield.
New reports from Spain suggest Barcelona could be interested in the striker. News outlet Sport claims that Núñez is on the Catalan club's radar as they look for a long-term heir to Robert Lewandowski.
It wouldn’t be the first time Barcelona has been linked with his services either. Former Liverpool star Luis Suárez revealed back in 2021 he had urged the Camp Nou side to sign Núñez, only to see him join Benfica before making the move to Liverpool a year later.
“When he was at Almeria, I said it at Barca,” Suárez said on a Twitch stream with Gerard Romero (via SportBible).
“They asked me and I said ‘look after this guy, he’s very interesting’, but they said no, he’s at Almeria, he’s very young. But instead of paying now 80, 90, or 100 million, they would have paid 15 or 20.”
Núñez would go on to inflict further pain on Barcelona, scoring twice in a 3-0 win for the Lisbon side in the group stages of the 2021/22 Champions League. Barca would be knocked out of the competition at the same hurdle, while Benfica qualified for the knockout stages, eventually succumbing to Liverpool, although Núñez would again impress against the Reds.
Liverpool.com says: It remains to be seen what becomes of Núñez this summer, although deleting nearly all of the pictures of your current club doesn’t exactly paint the picture of a player who’s happy where he is. Whether or not he pushes for a move himself, Slot, Hughes and Edwards will have a decision to make.
Considering how much he cost Liverpool, you can’t imagine the Reds would let Núñez go cheaply in any case. That might scupper Barcelona’s chances of signing him, considering the financial difficulties they’ve had over the past few years.
