Arne Slot was asked about the futures of Darwin Nunez and Alisson Becker ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Man City
Arne Slot has refused to comment on speculation linking Darwin Nunez with a move away from Liverpool. The striker was reportedly of interest to clubs from the Saudi Pro League in January.
It had been claimed that Al-Nassr were in talks regarding a possible move for the Uruguayan, only to switch attention to sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa in a £64m switch after being informed that Nunez was not available for transfer. Meanwhile, AC Milan has also been credited with an interest in the forward ahead of a possible summer swoop.
Nunez’s future at Anfield remains the subject of speculation with the forward failing to nail down a starting place following Slot’s arrival as head coach.
Struggling in front of goal, the striker has only scored six times this season and faced heavy criticism for missing an open goal from close-range in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in midweek.
Slot defended the forward for the miss, but criticised his reaction following the squandered chance. Meanwhile, Nunez took to social media to send a defiant, emotional message to his critics following the backlash.
The Reds head coach revealed on Thursday that he intended to speak to Nunez about his behaviour against Aston Villa.
And while he refused to be drawn on the player’s future ahead of Sunday’s trip to Man City, the Dutchman admitted he is expecting to see a different reaction from the Uruguayan in future.
“We don’t talk about these things in public,” he said when asked about transfer interest in Nunez. “He is the same player who scored two very important goals against Brentford.
“It is the life of a number nine, like it is the life of a defender or goalkeeper. Sometimes you make a mistake but the good thing about being a number nine is that you are a hero more often.
“Once in a while, you miss a chance that everyone talks about. That is not a problem for me, but his reaction should have been a bit better afterwards.
“He was gutted because he felt the importance of that miss. He is a human being, but we have to learn to get better and better and better – and I hope next time he will act differently than he did.
Nunez is not the only Liverpool player to have been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League, with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk also reportedly of interest to the Gulf State ahead of their contracts expiring at the end of the season.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker has also attracted interest from Saudi Arabia, with the Brazilian previously admitting he had resisted such lures last summer.
Slot was surprised by such an admission from his number one goalkeeper. However, while the Dutchman has been adamant that Alisson will be his first-choice when available during the current campaign, he concedes it is too early to say how the Reds will handle their goalkeeping department next season following the arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia.
Did you speak with Alisson about Saudi interest?” he said. “I didn’t know there was interest. Maybe he said he only wanted to stay?
“What next season will bring, we will see. We’ve bought a goalkeeper and sent him on loan and next season we will have Alisson, Caoimhin (Kelleher), (Vitezslav) Jaros and (Giorgi) Mamardashvili.
“Four very good keepers. They will be under contract and we will see how it works out. At this moment, our full focus is on City.”
