Darwin Nunez has been tipped for a swift return to the Premier League less than a year after leaving Liverpool.
After helping Liverpool win a historic Premier League title under Arne Slot, Nunez left the Reds and became another high-profile player to move to the Saudi Pro League, signing for Al Hilal in a fee of £46 million.
The Uruguayan has made eight appearances for his new side, scoring four goals and assisting another two.
Nunez has a contract until 2028 with the Riyadh outfit but already there is noise about the former Benfica striker potentially coming back to England – with a former Premier League defender backing him to have a second stint.
Marcel Desaily, who won the World Cup with France and made 222 appearances for Chelsea, believes Nunez would be a perfect fit to lead the line for his former club.
Nunez has scored four times for Al Hilal. Image: Getty
Chelsea have had huge difficulties finding a permanent No.9 and brought in Joao Pedro and Liam Delap in the summer, with Marc Guiu and Tyrique George also options up top.
“Nunez for me, was perfect, spot on,” Desaily told OLGB, advocating for Chelsea to go after Nunez.
“Young, he had bad luck at Liverpool but if Liverpool took him it means that they’ve seen real potential. I wanted Darwin Nunez to come into the system with confidence, with Maresca in a good system – it could have really been helpful for Chelsea.
“Not too expensive. This is my opinion, I really would have loved to see that player in the squad. If he’s still in the market and Saudi is not suiting him correctly, he could be the one that comes back.”
Nunez signed for Liverpool with huge expectation back in 2022 for an initial £64 million but struggled to be the regular goalscorer the Reds required, with his best Premier League tally 11 in the 2023/24 campaign.
Nunez left Liverpool in the summer, with the club making a loss on the Uruguayan. Image: Getty
He hit five in the league last season before being offloaded as champions Liverpool splashed out on Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak.
His Al Hilal side are third in the Saudi Pro League with 17 points from seven games – just four points adrift of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.