Nunez future becoming clear as club CEO breaks silence on Liverpool links

Tom Weber

• Updated: 1 Mar 2025 18:25 GMT
• 3 min read

Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin has ruled out a summer transfer for Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.

The Uruguay international is one of the few Liverpool players who are not enjoying this historic debut campaign under Arne Slot. After two years of underperformance, Nunez has fallen out of favour and was recently criticised by Slot - twice.

The €85 million signing has been reduced to the role of a benchwarmer and is expected to leave Liverpool in the summer. The Reds were already open to a departure in January but ultimately decided not to disrupt Slot's squad.

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There were very advanced talks with Saudi giants Al-Nassr for the majority of the winter window, with Fabrizio Romano revealing that both the player and the club had been close to agreeing a very lucrative transfer to the Middle East.

Ultimately, Nunez remained at Anfield, but this is likely to be his final season with the Premier League champions-in-waiting.

Atleti rule out Nunez transfer

Nunez is expected to field Saudi interest again in the summer, although not from Al-Nassr, who ended up splashing €77 million on Jhon Duran after Liverpool pulled the plug on their deal.

There will also likely be interest from around Europe. In recent days, Atletico Madrid have been associated with a move for the 25-year-old despite spending lavishly on Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez last summer.

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However, it seems that the links were nothing more than baseless speculation. Atleti CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin has ruled out a summer move for Nunez because, unsurprisingly, he feels that there are different areas of Diego Simeone's squad that need bolstering.

“Nunez is not in our plans for future signings," he told Futbol. "The reports about our interest in the player are unfounded. Although we are not looking for a striker, we are focused on strengthening other positions in the team.”