“Interest is genuine” - Fabrizio Romano confirms shock Liverpool transfer news amid '£70m offer’

Nunez has scored just two Premier League goals in 15 fixtures, while providing two assists. Across all competitions he has averaged a goal every 344 minutes. The Reds are said to be holding out for £85m for Nunez after they reportedly turned down an offer of £70m from Saudi Arabia.

Update on Nunez interest

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has confirmed there is “genuine” interest from the Saudi Pro League in Nunez but that a possible exit for the player is far from advanced. Providing an update on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “What I can confirm at the moment is only that interest from Saudi in Darwin Nunez is genuine. So there is interest from the Saudi Pro League in Darwin Nunez, there have been conversations to understand the situation, the price tag, and all these sorts of things.

“For sure, there is something around Darwin in terms of interest and contacts from Saudi. But at the moment, there is not something advanced in terms of negotiations, something concrete in terms of negotiations. And we have to respect Liverpool in this story, Darwin is an important player, they spent important money on Darwin. So before saying that Liverpool are selling Darwin Nunez, there are still plenty of things to do. And at the moment, we are not at that stage. So interest, yes, but the moment, still nothing advanced or really concrete in this sense, for Darwin Nunez’s exit.”

Slot defends Nunez

Last month Liverpool boss Arne Slot came to the defence of Nunez over his lack of goals. Speaking ahead of the dramatic 2-2 draw with Fulham, Slot said: "For me, he has impact. If you only look at goals, he hasn't scored the amount of goals that he wants to score, or we want a number nine to score, but he does have impact in his work-rate. He's part of a team that scores a lot of goals and is winning a lot.

"Of course, as a number nine you want to score more goals and that's definitely what he wants as well. But I'm not only judging Mohamed Salah on his goals and Darwin on his goals - I also judge them on their work-rate and what they bring to the team. The fans support him so much that maybe he wants it too much."

AC Milan were said to be preparing a bid for Nunez at the beginning of January. The Serie A side, according to reports in Italy, were eyeing a six-month loan deal with a £41.5m obligation to sign the forward permanently come the end of the season. Liverpool are unlikely to sanction a departure this month unless they can secure a huge fee and sign a replacement.