Benfica and Liverpool both winners in Darwin Núñez transfer - the numbers behind the move and why he's an ideal signing for Liverpool
Darwin Núñez is edging closer to completing his big-money move to Champions League finalists Liverpool FC in an eye-catching deal that will see Benfica immediately rake in tens of millions of euros.
Liverpool will spend up to 100 million euros on the Uruguayan international forward in total, paying 75 million euros in the first instance - believed to be split into two instalments - with a further 25 million to be paid once very manageable objectives have been met.
These include another 5 million euros being awarded to Benfica once Darwin plays his 10th competitive match for Jurgen Klopp’s side, and a further 10 million being paid upon him making his 60th outing for the Merseyside club. The final 10 million will then be due based on the completion of currently undisclosed achievable team and individual objectives.
Almeria, the newly promoted Spanish La Liga outfit who Benfica bought Darwin Núñez from two years ago for 24 million euros, will then be due 20% of the profits made on the sale up to 10 million euros.
A victory for both clubs
The negotiation ultimately leaves both clubs - and the player - extremely satisfied. Benfica, assuming all objectives are to be met and 100 million euros is to eventually be paid, will become the first football club in history to sell two separate players each for a nine-figure sum, following in the footsteps of Joao Felix, who joined Atletico Madrid for 127 million euros in 2019 in what is the current 5th most expensive transfer of all time.
It is another example of Benfica rubbing shoulders with the true elite clubs of the global game when it comes to selling players in the transfer market, having also seen Ruben Dias depart for Manchester City two seasons ago for nearly 70 million euros when English champions Manchester City came calling. Income such as this is highly significant for any club in the world. For a side in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, it is potentially seismic, particularly when it seems to be becoming increasingly common.
Benfica also know that they already have another young star on their books who may already have the potential to fill the void left behind by the departure of 22-year old Nunez without having to spend a penny. In Goncalo Ramos, Benfica have one of the most promising young strikers in the game, and the 20-year old could flourish as he moves out of the shadow of his former Uruguayan teammate and attempts to cement his place as an undisputed Benfica starter.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are clearly getting one of the most well-rounded active strikers currently in the sport. There are, in truth, not a huge number of elite level players who are able to operate as out-and-out strikers in the current market. Darwin, however, is already well on his way to proving himself to be one of them, and his impressive blend of physicality, speed and energy added to his proven goal-scoring ability, makes him an incredibly dangerous forward, as Barcelona, Ajax and Liverpool all discovered first-hand in the Champions League this season.
Liverpool have also managed to virtually replace two important players with just one man through this transfer, and have done so with someone who, should he manage to sufficiently evade any long-term injury setbacks, has the better part of 15 years of top level football ahead of him. The loss of Origi may not seem too important to the casual viewer considering he was fairly sporadically used, but it was no coincidence that the more traditional centre forward was able to chip in with some vital goals off the bench. Nunez can most definitely play that role, and as you would expect for the price tag, he can do it just as effectively while also offering more in terms of his versatility.
Indeed, while the impending loss of Sadio Mane is going to be huge, Nunez was regularly fielded out wide for Benfica, shifting to the wing to accommodate the likes of Yaremchuk through the middle, and can therefore also be a highly successful successor to the Senegalese international. He provides the same energy and determination, while also regularly looking to spring off the last line of defence. He then provides something else that Mane perhaps doesn’t, being a more physical and imposing presence. Not a target man by any means, but a handy outlet on the flank nonetheless.
As for Darwin, this is, clearly, a dream move. He’s had to work hard to get to where he is now, and a chance to work under Klopp for arguably the very best club in world football doesn’t come around very often.
Darwin Nunez. Author: Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Video source. License link.
