Liverpool's £70m deal OFF after star says no

Liverpool had a £70m deal ready to go but it's now off after the star said no. The Reds will need to look elsewhere.

Liverpool entertained a bid from Al-Hilal for Darwin Nunez back in January, as exclusively revealed by Anfield Watch. The Reds rejected that offer purely because of the timing.

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They didn't want to lose a first-team player mid-season, not with trophies to be won. There was every expectation, however, that Al-Hilal would be back in for Nunez.

After all, they will feature in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer. They've been desperate to find a striker for it, too, with Nunez on their shopping list.

Of course, he hasn't been the only one. Victor Osimhen was also on there, along with Sporting's Viktor Gyokeres.

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Darwin Nunez says no

Corriere Dello Sport claims Nunez will not be moving to Al-Hilal as he rejected their offer. This comes one day after the transfer deadline for the Club World Cup shut.

Liverpool expected some sort of movement from Al-Hilal on Tuesday. Essentially, things would go either way - a deal for Nunez or Al-Hilal giving up.

We firmly got our answer: Al-Hilal will not be signing Nunez. The striker supposedly prefers a move to a major European club this summer, despite being open to a Saudi Arabian transfer back in January.

Things change, of course, and Liverpool - who had this £70m deal well and truly on - now must look elsewhere to sell Nunez. Atlético Madrid are certainly one of the teams in that race.

But this is a bit of a blow, unless Al-Hilal or another Saudi side are open to signing Nunez without the Club World Cup in mind. They bring a lot of money to the table for deals like this, driving the price right up.

Without them, Liverpool may struggle to get the £70m they hoped for. It may even be that Nunez rejects any and all Saudi bids for his services.

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The club certainly want to move him on this summer, though. Where he ends up is anyone's guess right now but it appears Al-Hilal is no longer the option it was.