Liverpool and Barcelona are in the picture to sign Darwin Núñez, according to a report from Spain.
The Uruguay international spent three years at Liverpool and left them for Al-Hilal, consequently bringing in around €53m in August 2025.
He managed nine goals and five assists from 24 matches before losing his place.
The Saudi club left him out of the squad for the league to make room for January signing Karim Benzema.
Núñez hasn’t featured for Al-Hilal since February and seems keen on changing clubs this summer.
Liverpool and Barcelona options
Mundo Deportivo state the former Benfica man has both the Reds and the La Liga winners as options.
Hansi Flick is looking for a new No.9 following Robert Lewandowski’s exit, and the Catalan club are already chasing a few big targets. Darwin Núñez can be Plan B and a low-cost option for Barcelona.
The frontman’s Al-Hilal teammate, João Cancelo, spent the second half of the season on loan at Barcelona.
Jorge Mendes represents the duo and mentioned Núñez during talks for Cancelo.
Due to his situation this year, the former Liverpool man could terminate his contract and be available for free.
Sources close to the Mendes-Al-Hilal talks have informed the newspaper that the South American is aware his name came up during a meeting with Barcelona.
He’s now awaiting news from the Camp Nou side or Liverpool. This indicates the player is tempted to join one of the two clubs.
Barca’s interest isn’t new as their former director Ramón Planes, now at Al-Ittihad, tried signing Núñez when he was at UD Almería. Instead, the attacker left the Spanish club for Benfica in 2022 and moved to Anfield two years later.
Our take: Liverpool would be intriguing
Darwin Núñez
Hugo Ekitike suffered a serious injury in April and will be out for the long term. His absence could force Liverpool to sign a new striker this summer.
The Reds could consider the Uruguayan on a free transfer and initially offer him a short-term deal. There’s also a possibility the English club are bring used to put pressure on Barca.
Whether the Anfield club will sign Darwin Núñez or another striker is unclear now. His return could be a boost for the Liverpool squad, given he was very popular with his teammates.