Liverpool Considers Darwin Núñez Reunion Amid Squad Overhaul

The summer exodus at Anfield has not so much begun as erupted. Mohamed Salah gone. Andy Robertson gone. Ibrahima Konaté seemingly bound for Real Madrid. A new manager, a new era, and a squad full of holes.

Into that chaos, an old name has reappeared on Liverpool’s radar: Darwin Núñez.

Anfield’s nearly man, back on the table

Núñez, the headline signing of the summer of 2022 under Jürgen Klopp, never quite became the ruthless No 9 Liverpool thought they were buying. He became something else instead: chaotic, relentless, maddening. An xG machine who could bend games to his will without always finishing the job.

Now, he could be walking back through the Shankly Gates for nothing.

TEAMtalk report that the Uruguayan has been offered around as a free agent to a select group of clubs, with Liverpool firmly involved in the conversation. His short, disjointed spell in the Saudi Pro League has ended abruptly, and the 26‑year‑old is again looking for a home.

Núñez joined Al-Hilal at the start of the 2025/26 season and produced nine goals in 24 appearances. Respectable numbers on paper, but they were not enough to save him once the club ran into the hard limits of foreign-player quotas. He was cut from the squad, his final outing coming in February, when he scored twice in a 2-1 AFC Champions League Elite win over Al-Wahda.

Soon after, his contract with Al-Hilal was mutually terminated. A big move, a brief stay, and the familiar sense of unfinished business.

Benfica lurking, Anfield whispers growing

Núñez is now weighing his next step. Benfica, the club that launched him onto the European stage and banked a fortune from his sale, are expected to push to bring him back to Lisbon. That alone would be a compelling narrative.

But the story may yet circle back to Merseyside. The same report suggests there are already whispers in Spain that Núñez has given the green light to a Liverpool return, this time as a free agent. No transfer fee. No record-breaking outlay. Just wages and the question of whether Anfield is ready to relive the rollercoaster.

For Liverpool, the timing is pointed. New head coach Andoni Iraola inherits a squad stripped of two modern greats and potentially another cornerstone in Konaté. His first season will be spent unpicking the tactical and recruitment missteps of the Arne Slot era while trying to keep the club in the title conversation.

The forward line, in particular, looks light. Depth is thin. Goals need sharing. Chaos, as it happens, might be useful.

The xG magnet that never stopped buzzing

If Núñez divided opinion at Liverpool, the numbers behind the noise were always clear. He generated chances at a rate few could match. Converting them was another story.

In the 2023/24 Premier League season under Klopp, Núñez scored 11 league goals but missed 27 Big Chances. In his debut campaign, he hit nine league goals and spurned 20 Big Chances. The pattern followed him to Saudi Arabia: six league goals from a towering 11.48 expected goals. The movement remained electric. The finishing remained erratic.

Liverpool supporters will not be surprised by any of that. They watched him stretch defences, drag centre-backs into places they did not want to go, and still somehow leave you wondering how he had not walked away with a hat-trick.

Yet that is precisely what makes him intriguing for Iraola.

Liverpool do not need Núñez to be a 30-goal striker to extract value from a free transfer. In a rotational role, with less pressure and more tactical structure, he can still be a problem for opponents. His runs open lanes for others. His presence changes the tempo of games. Even when he misses, he drags Liverpool closer to goal.

A homecoming that makes football sense

For Iraola, wrestling with a squad in transition, a no-fee move for a 26-year-old forward who already understands the club, the league and the expectations carries obvious appeal. There is no adaptation to English football required, no mystery about his strengths and flaws. Liverpool know exactly what they would be buying into.

They would be signing the same Darwin Núñez they waved off: wild, relentless, imperfect. Only this time, they would not be paying a premium for the promise.

In a summer defined by departures, Liverpool’s most pragmatic move might just be to embrace a familiar kind of chaos.