Liverpool are advancing in talks to sell Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah, with two Italian journalists providing important updates on the pair.
Liverpool have been very active in the early stages of the summer transfer window, signing Jeremie Frimpong as a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold after the English right-back joined Real Madrid. The Reds activated Frimpong’s €35million (£30m / $40m) release clause at Bayer Leverkusen and did exceptionally well to get €10m (£8.4m / $11.5m) from Madrid for terminating Alexander-Arnold’s contract early.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has sold backup goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford for £18m (€21m / $24m) and is now eyeing two more additions to Arne Slot’s squad.
Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz is undergoing a medical after travelling to England ahead of his record-breaking €136m (£116m / $156m) transfer to Liverpool.
Wirtz is expected to be followed to Anfield by Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez. You can read the latest on the Hungary international here.
With Liverpool’s spending set to surpass the £186m (€218m / $251m) mark, Hughes needs to offload players in order to keep their financial situation healthy.
Nunez and Quansah are next in line to depart Merseyside. Nunez has failed to convince Slot that he should be Liverpool’s main striker. Quansah is a centre-back who is highly rated at Liverpool, though his sale represents a great chance for the club to bring in funds.
According to Alfredo Pedulla, Napoli have been interested in Nunez for over a month and have recently begun ‘direct contact’ with Liverpool to get the deal done.
Nunez ‘wants to stay in Europe’ and is ready to reject offers from the Saudi Pro League so he can continue playing at the highest level.
So far, Napoli have offered €43m (£37m / $49.5m) for the Uruguayan. Liverpool, though, are holding out for €50m (£42m / $57m) plus add-ons.
Liverpool know they will have to take a financial hit when selling Nunez, having originally paid £64m for him (the deal had the potential to rise to £85m, too). But they want to get as much money back for him as possible and believe recouping £42m would be good work.
Napoli are looking to strike an agreement quickly to ‘avoid any possible competition’.
The Serie A champions are admirers of both Nunez and Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca. Antonio Conte has decided to chase Nunez as he thinks the 25-year-old can provide his attack with ‘a further leap in quality’, despite his problems at Liverpool.
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Quansah to follow Nunez out of Anfield
Fabrizio Romano, meanwhile, has revealed that Quansah’s transfer to Leverkusen ‘can be agreed in the next 24-48 hours’.
Negotiations between Liverpool and the German side are at the ‘final stages’, while the defender has already ‘said yes’ to the move.
Leverkusen are moving closer to signing Quansah for an initial £30m plus £5m in bonuses (a total package worth €41m / $47m).
The excellent relationship between the two clubs following the Frimpong and Wirtz deals will likely have helped Quansah’s transfer progress so quickly.
These updates follow reports on both Nunez and Quansah on Thursday.
Sky Sport Italia revealed that Nunez had given a switch to Napoli the green light.
Several outlets including Sky Sports detailed Leverkusen’s talks for Quansah, and that transfer is also hurtling towards completion.
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