Liverpool ready to splash €100m on Nunez after rejecting Bayern's Mané offer

The Premier League club are undeterred by Benfica’s €100m valuation of the 22-year-old and are willing to pay €80m plus €20m in add-ons

Wed, 08 Jun, 2022 - 19:30

Andy Hunter, Fabrizio Romano, and Jacob Steinberg

Liverpool are prepared to pay a club record €100m (£85.5m) to sign Darwin Núñez from Benfica but have rejected what they consider a derisory second bid from Bayern Munich for Sadio Mané.

The Premier League club are undeterred by Benfica’s €100m valuation of the 22-year-old and are willing to pay €80m plus €20m in add-ons to secure the striker. Manchester United are also interested but Núñez is understood to be keen on a move to Liverpool, who are ready to offer a five-year contract. The club are awaiting a decision from Benfica on their proposal and are not willing to enter a bidding war as they line up potential replacements for Mané.

Bayern’s latest offer for Mané was worth up to £30m provided the club win the Champions League and Mané wins the Ballon d’Or in each of the next three seasons – the anticipated length of the striker’s contract. The deal was rejected out of hand by Liverpool, who have appeared in three of the past five Champions League finals and consider the add-ons unrealistic, to say the least.

Liverpool want more than £40m for Mané, who has been instrumental in the club’s success under Jürgen Klopp but is targeting a fresh start after six years at Anfield. The 30-year-old has only 12 months on his contract, which may force Liverpool to negotiate with his suitors at some stage. Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino also have 12 months on their contracts.

Bayern are trying to move swiftly to sign Mané with doubts surrounding Robert Lewandowski’s future in Munich. They had an offer worth up to £25m rejected by Liverpool last week and their latest bid is for a guaranteed £23.5m plus £6.5m in add-ons. That is nowhere near Liverpool’s valuation of a key asset who scored 23 goals last season.

Liverpool also want a replacement lined up before considering the sale of the Senegal forward. Núñez is the leading target for Klopp should Mané get his wish to join Bayern. The Uruguayan, who was the top scorer in Portugal last season with 26 league goals and scored 34 in total, is high on Liverpool’s wishlist. Almería are due 20% of any profit that Benfica make under the terms of his €24m transfer to the Lisbon club in 2020.

United also want Núñez as they rebuild under Erik ten Hag but cannot offer Champions League football. Núñez was hugely impressive in Benfica’s Champions League quarter-final defeat by Liverpool in April, scoring in both legs, and was publicly praised by Klopp afterwards.

Liverpool will have to break their transfer record – the £75m paid for Virgil van Dijk – to meet Benfica’s valuation and secure the in-demand striker. The club have signed Fulham’s 19-year-old midfielder Fabio Carvalho from Fulham and hope to finalise a deal for Aberdeen’s right-back Calvin Ramsay this week.

Meanwhile Chelsea have told Romelu Lukaku he will be allowed to join Internazionale on loan if the deal makes sense financially.

Lukaku is desperate to return to Inter after falling out of favour at Chelsea, who broke their transfer record when they bought the forward for £97.5m last summer, and there is a desire from all parties for the move to go through.

Thomas Tuchel has no intention of standing in the Belgian’s way and talks between the clubs are under way.

Chelsea’s new owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, have made clear to Lukaku that they are ready to find a solution with Inter.

Lukaku was disappointing last season and does not look suited to Tuchel’s system. Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, the co-founder of Clearlake, will be guided by Tuchel on football matters and have taken into account their manager’s views on the 29-year-old striker.

However a significant amount of work needs to be done if Lukaku, whose lawyer has been in touch with Inter, is to leave. Inter cannot afford to sign him on a permanent basis and Chelsea, who could join the race to sign Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus, could demand as much as £25m as a loan fee. They will also want the Italian club to cover a heavy portion of the former Manchester United player’s £325,000-a-week wages.

It could be difficult for Inter to meet those demands given financial issues forced them to sell Lukaku last year. They are trying to sign Paulo Dybala, with the Argentina forward set to leave Juventus on a free transfer, but could lose more key players. Tottenham want to strengthen their defence by signing Alessandro Bastoni and have targeted the Italy international’s fellow Inter centre‑back Milan Skriniar, who has been linked with Chelsea. Inter could also receive bids for their forward Lautaro Martínez.

Lukaku enjoyed a hugely productive relationship with Martínez when Inter won Serie A two seasons ago. That convinced Chelsea to bring him back last year but the move soon turned sour. Lukaku managed only 15 goals in all competitions and he created needless controversy after questioning Tuchel’s tactics and talking about his desire to return to Inter during an unauthorised interview with Sky Italia last winter.

Chelsea will make significant funds available for Tuchel to strengthen his attack. Jesus, who wants to leave Manchester City after the signing of Erling Haaland, is on Chelsea’s shortlist. The Brazil striker’s deal runs out next year and City want £45m-£50m for the 25-year-old. Arsenal and Spurs are also trying to sign him.

Chelsea have also shortlisted Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku, City’s Raheem Sterling and Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé, who is available on a free. They will listen to offers for Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic.

Boehly is in London this week and has held talks with Tuchel over transfer plans. Chelsea need reinforcements in defence after losing Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen. César Azpilicueta could join Barcelona and Marcos Alonso has said he wants to leave Chelsea, who are pushing to sign Sevilla’s Jules Koundé. They are also targeting RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol, Juventus’s Matthijs de Ligt, Villarreal’s Pau Torres and Atlético Madrid’s José Giménez.

Boehly and Eghbadi will represent Chelsea at the Premier League’s annual meeting on Thursday. It has not been confirmed whether Bruce Buck, Chelsea’s chairman under Abramovich, and the director Marina Granovskaia have long-term futures at the club.

West Ham will consider offers for Saïd Benrahma this summer. David Moyes, who is ready to step up his interest in Jesse Lingard, wants to improve his attack and could increase his budget by selling Benrahma.

The Algeria winger joined on loan from Brentford in October 2020 and was signed for £30m on a permanent basis during the following transfer window. Benrahma arrived with a big reputation and he has been given opportunities to establish himself.

Everton are closing in on the free signing of James Tarkowski after agreeing personal terms with the Burnley defender.

The 29-year-old is out of contract at Turf Moor at the end of the month and has been strongly linked with a move to Goodison Park since Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League.

Leeds have confirmed the signing of the Denmark defender Rasmus Kristensen from Red Bull Salzburg on a five-year contract. Jesse Marsch, who coached the right-back at Salzburg and is now the manager at Elland Road, described the 24-year-old as “a very good Champions League full-back” and said: “I am totally convinced that he will continue to grow into a great Premier League full-back.” Newcastle have paid £15m to buy Matt Targett after his successful loan from Aston Villa. “It was an easy decision to make,” said the left-back, who has signed a four-year contract.

Guardian