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Recent reports from Portugal claim that Liverpool FC may be deliberately keeping striker Darwin Nunez on the bench to avoid triggering a costly payment to his former club Benfica.

The Uruguayan forward is reportedly one Premier League start away from activating a €5m (£4.3m) bonus clause in his 2022 transfer agreement

According to Tuesday’s edition of Portuguese newspaper A Bola, Liverpool would be obligated to pay Benfica an additional €5m if Nunez were to make one more start in the Premier League.

Darwin Nunez, who joined Liverpool in 2022 for an initial fee of £64m, currently sits on 49 Premier League starts for the Merseyside club.

This revelation has fueled speculation that manager Arne Slot’s hesitancy to include Nunez in the starting eleven may be financially motivated rather than purely based on performance.

The total transfer package for Nunez was structured to potentially reach £85.36m through various performance-related add-ons.

It is believed that Benfica have already received €10m (£8.6m) of the prospective add-ons from Liverpool, with those clauses triggered when he reached specific appearance milestones in the Premier League and Champions League.

The 25-year-old striker has experienced a significant reduction in playing time during the current campaign.

Darwin Nunez has only started one Premier League match since the beginning of January, with his last start in any competition coming in March against Southampton.

This striking decline in appearances has corresponded with persistent rumours linking the Uruguayan with a summer exit.

Nunez has struggled for form this season, scoring just seven goals from 1,920 minutes on the pitch across all competitions.

But it seems that Nunez’s lack of appearances has nothing to do with the reported clause.

Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo has reported that Uruguayan is not being left out for financial purposes:

“The ECHO understands there is no suggestion the player is being omitted for financial reasons, with Liverpool having resisted big-money interest from Saudi Arabia in Nunez in January to instead have the player as part of their plans for the second half of the season with the Reds at that point still challenging on four fronts.”

Given the widespread reports of the striker’s potential departure, it seems increasingly likely that he may have already made his final Premier League start for the club – but it cerainly seems for tactical purposes and not motivated by money.

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