Nunez set to rejoin Liverpool less than a year after £46m Saudi Arabia exit

Darwin Nunez is set to return to Liverpool this summer, according to Uruguayan outlet Carve Deportiva, less than 12 months after leaving Anfield for Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in a deal worth approximately £46.3 million.

Nunez’s time in Saudi Arabia has been difficult. Reports emerged in February that he was seeking an exit after being dropped from Al-Hilal’s 25-man squad, and the move now appears to have run its course well short of expectations.

Any formal announcement is unlikely before the end of the 2026 World Cup. Nunez is currently representing Uruguay in the tournament, and he has made clear he does not want transfer business confirmed until his country’s campaign concludes — placing the window for an official statement between now and the final on 19 July.

The Uruguayan striker joined Liverpool from Benfica in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth around £75 million, arriving with a formidable reputation after scoring 48 goals and contributing 16 assists in 85 appearances for the Portuguese club. He never quite replicated those numbers at Anfield, but still recorded 40 goals and 26 assists in 143 appearances, and departed as a Premier League and League Cup winner.

His exit last summer came shortly after Liverpool completed a £79 million signing of Hugo Ekitike, signalling a shift in the club’s attacking options. Despite a mixed three-year spell, Nunez left with warm words for the supporters who had backed him through a turbulent period.

“Thank you, Liverpool,” he wrote at the time. “Three years on, it’s time to say goodbye. I’ll take with me countless memories that will live with me forever. I leave with a full heart, thanks to the love of a crowd that never let me down and always had my back — through the highs and through the lows. Liverpool will always be part of who I am.”

A return would represent an unusual move in modern football, though not without precedent at Anfield. Whether Liverpool’s current squad structure has room for the 25-year-old remains to be seen once the World Cup concludes.