Liverpool have no intentions to sell Darwin Nunez after reports linking the striker with a shock link-up with Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce.
Nunez, who is currently with Uruguay at the Copa America, is two years into a six-year deal he signed when he joined from Benfica for an initial £64m and has scored 33 goals in 96 appearances so far.
Despite the outlay that could rise to a club-record sum of £85m, Nunez has reportedly been lined up to become Mourinho’s first signing at Fenerbahce, with reports in Turkish media claiming the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss is a keen admirer of the Liverpool No.9.
It’s suggested by Ajansspor that Mourinho is working in tandem with super agent Jorge Mendes and his Gestifute agency to work on a huge deal to bring Nunez to Istanbul and end his time with the Reds after two Premier League seasons.
It’s claimed Nunez is wanted as a direct replacement for Michi Batshuayi at Fener with Mourinho working with Mendes to facilitate a deal that would be, by some distance, the biggest ever conducted by a Turkish side.
Ajansspor claim Mendes’s Gestifute agency are able to smooth the path out of Anfield for the striker but the ECHO understands the player’s main representative is Eugenio Lopez, who is a partner of the Portuguese intemediary as opposed to the Reds forward being a direct client.
“At Fenerbahce, both coach Jose Mourinho and manager Jorge Mendes are negotiating for the transfer of Nunez, who has been playing for Liverpool since 2022 and whose contract expires in 2028,” they write.
Liverpool are not entertaining any loan or permanent offers for someone who has already cost the club a record-equalling £75m since his switch from Benfica in June 2022.
Nunez scored 18 times across all competitions last term while also supplying 13 assists and the in-form Uruguay international has registered 10 in his last seven appearances at international level, including back to back strikes against Panama and Bolivia at the Copa America.
The biggest fee ever paid by a Turkish Super Lig club remains the £14m paid for Brazil striker Mario Jardel in the 2000/01 season while Fenerbahce’s own record stands at £12.7m paid to Marseille last year for Cengiz Under.
