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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot during a press conference.(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Arne Slot has rubbished suggestions he has been told by Liverpool not to start Darwin Nunez for financial reasons.

Reports this week in Portugal claimed Benfica, from whom the Reds bought Nunez in the summer of 2022, could miss out on €5million should the player not start another game for Liverpool.

Nunez cost an initial fee of €75million - which converted into £64m at the time - with the deal brokered also including €25m of achievable add-ons.

While neither club has confirmed the exact breakdown of the additional fees, the latest report claims Benfica were paid €5m by Liverpool when the forward reached 10 starts in the Premier League and Champions League combined, another €5m when reaching 35 and are due a further €5m when the tally hits 60.

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Nunez currently stands on 59 starts combined in both competitions, but has been in the XI only once since early February when scoring in the Premier League home win over Southampton.

The Uruguay international is being linked heavily with a move to Saudi Arabia when the transfer window opens in January with Liverpool having rejected an approach for the player from the Far East in January.

But Slot has comprehensively dismissed the notion sporting director Richard Hughes has any influence over his team selection ahead of Sunday's Premier League visit of Tottenham Hotspur, with the Reds requiring only a point to be crowned Premier League champions.

"Do you always believe what journalists say?

Me neither," said the Liverpool boss on Friday morning.
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