“I think the die’s cast” – Journalist believes Liverpool player’s future has now been ‘settled’ | OneFootball

David Lynch has claimed that the future of one Liverpool player has now been ‘settled’, but it’s not to do with being awarded a new contract – quite the opposite, in fact.

While the Reds strive to tie down Mo Salah to an extended stay at Anfield as his current deal nears its expiry date, another forward at the club is seemingly considered disposable and could already be in his final season on Merseyside.

Lynch predicting high-profile Liverpool exit in 2025

Speaking to Sports Mole, the journalist claimed that Darwin Nunez will move on from LFC next summer, having been unable to truly live up to his initial £64m transfer fee when signing from Benfica in 2022.

Lynch said: “It’s essentially settled now. I just don’t think there’s a debate there around Nunez. I think the die’s cast now.

“I think Nunez is what he is – two-and-a-half seasons in now, he hasn’t lived up to expectations, so the job is now to get the best out of him that you can between now and the end of the season. Then he will leave and I’m sure he’ll find somewhere else where [he will] fit better and [be] more appreciated.

“It’s not been a very good signing, but as I say, it’s just important now to refocus on what he can do and what he can contribute between now and May.”

(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Lynch added: “I wholeheartedly expect that he will leave Liverpool at the end of this season, but the job for him now is to be a good second-choice striker, to come in in the games where [Diogo] Jota can’t start, and be that version of himself that he’s not been in the last two games.

“Liverpool don’t need him to score 100 goals. They don’t need him to be the main man. They just need him to come in and be competent in build-up and help them get up the pitch.”

Liverpool can’t afford to jettison Nunez just yet

Nunez has been in the firing line recently after ineffective performances against Newcastle and Girona, with Arne Slot publicly admitting that the Uruguayan was well below his best in the latter fixture, but the Liverpool boss has also stressed the qualities that the 25-year-old brings to the team out of possession.

For all the number 9’s indefatigable work rate – a trait which shouldn’t be undervalued – a return of three goals from 19 matches so far this season just isn’t enough. For comparison, Salah has four in three matches since the start of December.

Jota’s potential return ahead of Christmas may see him come into the side and give the ex-Benfica marksman a breather after a prolonged run of starts in the Portuguese star’s absence through injury, although both of them will be relied upon by Slot during a hectic schedule over the winter.

Given the patchy fitness record of our number 20, Liverpool aren’t currently in a position where they can flippantly sell Nunez, unless the acquisition of a top-quality centre-forward such as Omar Marmoush were to alter the picture in 2025.

Whatever the future holds for the Uruguay international, let’s hope he can have an overdue purple patch of form in front of goal and quell some of the doubts which have been expressed about him.