Darwin Nunez £32m transfer reality laid bare as Liverpool to Napoli deal passes first test

Darwin Nunez £32m transfer reality laid bare as Liverpool to Napoli deal passes first test

Darwin Nunez is being linked with a transfer from Liverpool to Napoli this summer.

Darwin Nunez could leave Liverpool for Napoli in time for the 2025/2026 season. (Image: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images )

A summer transfer from Liverpool to Napoli - while not yet at any advanced stage - would appear to be taking shape for Darwin Nunez. Three years after becoming the Reds' record-signing, the striker has since lost that title and, with form unbefitting of it long beforehand, now appears reasonable timing for the parting of ways.

Since his 2022 arrival from Benfica, Nunez has made 143 appearances with 40 goals and 26 assists his return. For a time, his work-ethic was enough to help see him through rough patches as Anfield's resident No.9. Yet, when compared to not only Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak who settled in the Premier League that same summer, but those that donned the Reds' most famous shirt before him, the standards required just haven't been met.

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As a result, the 25-year-old is hopeful of carrying on his career in Europe with Napoli claimed to be ready to hand him such a lifeline. While the ECHO said last week no approach had been made by that point, The Athletic believe one is expected in 'due course'.

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And a possible deal has allegedly passed it's first test, with former Uruguay and Napoli midfielder Walter Gargano revealing the Reds' striker to have told him: "Yes, I'll come to Naples right away.

"I'm waiting to close with Naples."

The player's backing would leave a runway with fewer obstacles for the clubs to traverse.

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But yet the biggest matter to resolve is how much money would Nunez move for exactly, and from a Liverpool perspective would they stand to make a profit or a loss on their club-record signing up until last Friday, when Florian Wirtz's £116m move went through. On hand to explain is Reach PLC's chief business of football writer, Dave Powell.

"Darwin Nunez's move hasn't worked out as had been planned," he begins.

"What was a major outlay for the club of an initial £64m guaranteed, rising to potentially £85m when he joined from Benfica in 2022, Nunez, while having cultivated something of a cult-hero status at Anfield, due to his work-rate and sometimes chaotic approach, hasn’t been the elite number nine the club had been hoping for.

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"He has been afforded chances to prove he's the man, but last season under Arne Slot - in a Liverpool team that won the Premier League - he wasn't impactful enough and the writing was on the wall for some time when it came to this summer.

"Liverpool have already engaged in heavy spending this window, with Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong arriving, soon to be joined by Milos Kerkez; the total outlay is some £186m.

"The Reds are well under the PSR threshold to the extent that they could spend another £200m and be compliant given the profit they are expected to post for the recently completed 2024/25 financial year.

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"But they will want to recoup some funds - as that is part of the plan to help offset additional costs and allow the club to be able to strengthen significantly as and when they need to - and Nunez forms part of that.

"The Nunez fee was an initial £64m sum guaranteed.

"That sum is what is accounted for when we talk about amortisation, which is the spreading of a fee paid across the life of the player's contract in the books. Nunez's deal was six years.

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"The add-ons are booked as exceptional items in the accounts as and when the clauses are triggered. Some have already been triggered in the case of Nunez, with few left to activate.

"Using the £64m figure, Liverpool, by this summer, will have cleared three years of Nunez's fee for accounting purposes (it isn't the same as actually paying the instalments to the clubs owed). With an amortisation charge of £10.6m per year, Liverpool will have seen £31.8m drop off his book value, leaving a sum of £32.2m remaining. The ability for clubs to amortise deals for longer than five years was in effect when Nunez signed for Liverpool, it has since been closed and capped at five years but not done retrospectively.

"What that means is that any guaranteed fee over and above that book value will count as profit for the Reds."

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As for the package the Reds could receive in the scenario Nunez leaves, Powell concludes: "Liverpool rejected a £60m approach from Al-Nassr in January, largely due to the fact the club didn't want to weaken themselves down the stretch when chasing a Premier League title.

"It's hard to imagine that figure still stands if the offer comes from Europe - with Napoli interested - and sums of between £45m and £50m seem more likely. Should a £50m deal be done, then it would represent £17.8m of profit which could be booked in its entirety in the current financial year, which has now clicked over into 2025/26 for the Reds, with their financial year end being May 31.

"It would create flexibility in the wage structure and reduce amortisation costs, with Liverpool likely to want a significant chunk of the cost up front so as to help them meet their own transfer debt obligations."

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