Liverpool: Slot responds to claims Nunez clause is causing Hughes to alter starting XI
Liverpool boss Arne Slot insists that sporting director Richard Hughes “will never” tell him who to pick amid claims Darwin Nunez is potentially being kept out the starting XI.
There have been rumours that Nunez will leave Anfield in the summer transfer window after falling down the pecking order under Slot at Liverpool this season.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed earlier this month that Nunez, who has started just eight Premier League matches for Liverpool this term, is expected to leave at the end of the campaign.
Romano wrote: ‘The plan is clear since February and it hasn’t changed: Darwin Nunez, expected to leave Liverpool in the summer. After offer turned down by the club in January from Al Nassr, all options will be considered in the upcoming months. Darwin, also open to new chapter.’
There have been claims in Portugal this week that Liverpool will have to pay Benfica a further €5m if Nunez starts 60 games for the Reds with the Uruguay international just one start away from triggering the clause.
When asked whether the reported clause in Nunez’s contract is affecting his team selection, Slot replied in a pre-match press conference: “Do you always believe what the journalists say? Not always? Me neither. Sometimes it’s true, but sometimes it’s better not to believe everything that is written about players. It’s completely new to me.
READ: Mediawatch: Bruno Fernandes over Mo Salah for Player of the Year? Sorry, what?
“I’ve said many times that I am working at a club where it is really nice to work at. For me, it’s very important to have a great working environment and I have that with Richard [Hughes, the Liverpool sporting director].
“So the last, last, last thing that he will do is tell me if you play him, it will cost us this much. That he will never, never do. I don’t know if it’s true or not, because we never talk about that. He never interferes with the line-up.
“It might be true, but if a journalist says it, you have to balance.”
Conor Bradley is in line for more football next season if Trent Alexander-Arnold completes a move to Real Madrid, as expected, but Slot insists as long as the England international is here it will be “difficult” for the young right-back to make the next step.
MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365
👉 ‘People inside Liverpool prefer’ £40m left-back to Milos Kerkez for two reasons
👉 Romano provides TAA update amid ‘unexpected turn’; offers Liverpool hope in £50m Chelsea battle
👉 Liverpool vs Tottenham prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats
Slot added on Bradley: “He is getting closer and closer to 90 minutes, but it depends on the upcoming two sessions. It’s normal if you played twice for 70 minutes, the chance of you playing 90 is getting closer.
“We are taking good care of him because he has had two injuries that were similar. Let’s wait and see how he does today and tomorrow and see if he is able to play and if he is, whether he will be able to play the full 90.
“It’s going to be very important for him to become a better player than he is now to play many games in a row. Unfortunately for him, there is another full-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is world class at this club. That is perhaps the only reason he hasn’t played back-to-back games. He definitely has quality to do so and I think his next step is to play every single week and feel that pressure and at a certain moment it doesn’t feel as pressure anymore.
“That is his next step, but as long as Trent is here, it’s going to be a difficult step to make as well. But they are both very food full-backs.”
