‘Stunned’ Man Utd claim Liverpool ‘overpaid’ for player as Reds line up January move for PL star
Manchester United feel Liverpool paid over the odds to bring in Darwin Nunez after they were beaten to the Uruguayan’s signature by their arch-rivals, according to reports.
The Reds signed Nunez from Benfica in a club-record deal worth around £85m in the summer of 2022 with the 24-year-old signing a six-year deal.
Nunez had a mixed start to life at Anfield with the Uruguay international scoring 22 goals in 57 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool.
He has a battle on his hands to start regularly with Jurgen Klopp sometimes choosing to play Cody Gakpo or Diogo Jota through the middle instead of Nunez.
Nunez, who will be wanting to get in on this list, has almost scored a goal in every two games this season with a record of seven goals in 15 matches and Liverpool boss Klopp has noticed a big difference in his performances this term.
Klopp told reporters recently: “It is completely different now. The first year was hard for him and then hard for me as well because you see this incredible talent, massive potential, but it is difficult to unfold it.
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“I am a manager who can help a player but I need contact for that, it can speed up a process by talking a lot with the player.
“I was not able to do that because I don’t speak Spanish and he didn’t speak English but his English is now that much better. My Spanish still not.
“But he is settled in the team and when you see him around the building everything is different and he is in a very good moment. It is still only the start for him.
“It’s a good moment, hopefully it continues like that forever. Then I am a bit afraid of the highs he could reach because there is so much there it is crazy.
“But now at least we found the real starting moment and let’s work from here.”
Despite recent praise from Klopp, Football Insider claims that Man Utd ‘believed Liverpool overpaid’ for the former Benfica man after they beat the Red Devils to the signing.
Man Utd are said to have ‘closely pursued’ Nunez but that they ‘calculated that the forward wasn’t worth such a fee at the time’ and pulled out of the race.
In other news, Liverpool have joined Tottenham in the race to sign Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly ahead of the winter transfer window.
Football Insider report that Klopp and the Reds ‘are in the market for a versatile defender ahead of the mid-season window, and Kelly has long been on their radar’.
As well as the two Premier League clubs, AC Milan are also understood to be ‘keeping close tabs’ on Kelly – who has made eight appearances in all competitions this season – with the centre-back out of contract at the end of the season.
It has been claimed that Bournemouth ‘could now be forced to accept a January offer for Kelly or risk him walking away from the club for free next summer’.
