Arsenal have been urged to sign Darwin Nunez following reports Liverpool could be willing to sell the striker for £50million. The 25-year-old is expected to leave Anfield in the next few months after a disappointing return in front of goal for the newly-crowned Premier League champions this season.
The Uruguay international is known to have suitors in the Middle East, with Al-Nassr having a £60m bid for the frontman rejected back in January. The former Benfica man has also attracted interest from teams in Italy, with AC Milan and Napoli both said to be keen on a deal.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is now being encouraged to consider a move for Nunez after finishing just behind the Reds in second this term. Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders has made the suggestion after boldly claiming he could bag the Gunners 25 goals next season.
Such a tally would require a marked improvement from Nunez, who only scored seven times across all competitions in his most recent campaign. However, the former Wolves and Wrexham manager said he believed Arsenal would be lucky to have him after describing their current transfer targets as “gambles”.
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres are Arsenal’s reported prime targets, though the former is understood to be the club’s favoured direction. 22-year-old striker Sesko scored 21 times last season while Gyokeres netted an incredible 54 goals from 52 matches.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Saunders said: “Is there any fan out there that would be disappointed if their club was linked with Nunez? He’s not got enough goals for Liverpool, but I think we all look at him with the same eyes.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he went to Arsenal and scored 25 goals. The people they’ve got lined up, they’re all gambles. At least he’s played in the Premier League for three or four years, and you know what you’re going to get.
“He works his socks off, even if he doesn’t score, so he’s not a passenger. That’s why the Liverpool fans like him.”
He added: “He’s not hopeless and what surprises you about him is that he’s got every finish in his locker. He can go around the keeper, he can shoot from range and he can score headers, but he does seem to find a way of missing sometimes.”
Liverpool are looking to sign a new striker this summer, with a move for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike on the cards. With a club-record £116m deal for Florian Wirtz also in the works, it could lead to several outgoings to fund the new arrivals.
Nunez is looking for a new challenge after starting just eight Premier League games under Arne Slot this season. He earned praise from his manager for his positive attitude in spite of the lack of minutes.
Discussing Nunez’s situation at the moment, Slot said: “I don’t know exactly what is going to happen. One of the main strengths we had this season is that everybody accepted his role.
“And his role sometimes could be to start every single game, hardly be taken off, sometimes be taken off. It could be sometimes not starting every single game, sometimes not playing hardly [any] minutes.”
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