Former Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson has urged Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool to battle Manchester United for the signature of Uruguay and Benfica striker Darwin Nunez.
Darwin Nunez is one of the high-profile strikers in Europe. He is one of the sought-after players this summer. Manchester United is said to be leading the race to sign the Benfica striker. Benfica is believed to have placed a 100 million Euros price tag on the 22-year-old striker.
Nunez had an impressive season with Benfica both domestically and in Europe. He scored 34 goals and provided 4 assists in 41 appearances for Benfica last season including 6 goals in 10 Champions League appearances. He finally announced to the whole world that he is ready to move to a bigger club after an impressive display against Liverpool in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Liverpool saw their quest of winning the historic quadruple sly through their hands after losing the Premier League title to Manchester City in the final of the Premier League and was painfully defeated 1-0 in the Champions League final in Paris.
but they managed to win the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup from Chelsea.
Glen Johnson believes if Liverpool wants to compete with Manchester City for the Premier League next season, they have to break the bank to buy a 100 million rated striker after Manchester City has previously confirmed the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland for 63 million Euros.
The Reds have already announced their first signing of the season Fabio Carvalho for 5 million Euros from Fulham. with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah’s contracts with Liverpool set to expire in 2023, Sadio Mane had been linked with a move to Bayern Munich.
However, Johnson thinks the 22 years old Benfica striker will be a perfect fit for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
What did Glen Johnson say?
In an interview with BettingOdds.com, Johnson said: “You’d think Darwin Nunez would head to Anfield if it’s between Liverpool and Manchester United.
“As we know, Manchester United don’t have the same pulling power they once did. There was a time when Manchester United came calling then the answer was ‘yes’.
“That’s not the case at the moment, so if Liverpool and Manchester United are going head to head for him then I’m sure he’d pick Liverpool over Manchester United.
“If Liverpool were to pay the £100 million that Benfica supposedly wanted for him, then that’s against their structure and the way they do business, but that’s the way the game is going. If they don’t start opening up to that, then others will capitalize on that.
“I do like the way Liverpool do their business, but they need to be a bit flexible with it because the other big guns will be willing to pay it, whether it’s against their protocols or not.”
The question is are Liverpool willing to battle Manchester United for Darwin Nunez. Is Liverpool willing to pay 100 million Euros for one player? the highest transfer fee Liverpool had ever paid is the 75 million pounds they paid to Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in 2018.
