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Darwin Nunez showed off a bold new look on social media after a friend of the Liverpool forward revealed that the 26-year-old is ready to end his turbulent three-year spell at Anfield and has already chosen his next destination.
According to Nunez’s former Penarol team-mate and Uruguay midfielder Walter Gargano, the player is said to have told him this directly.
On Instagram, Nunez posed with his partner Lorena Manas at celebrations for his 26th birthday with a newly shaven head.
A second picture showed Manas holding the clippers after shearing her partner’s ubiquitous long hair.
Nunez is poised to leave Merseyside after three seasons and a particularly difficult final year which saw him start just eight times in the Premier League – and score seven in all competitions.
He has been the subject of interest from Napoli, Atletico Madrid, and Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, but the Serie A champions may now be the most likely option.
Italian transfer insider Alfredo Pedulla claims Napoli have already tabled a package of €43million (£36.7m) – close to Liverpool’s desired price of €50m (£42.7m) plus bonuses.
Gargano told radio station Kiss Kiss Napoli: ‘Nunez? The warmth of the Neapolitans would do him a lot of good, I spoke to him about a week ago and I hope he really comes to Naples.
‘I told him; “Go to Naples!” He and his family will decide what to do with his future. He told me; “Yes, I’ll come to Naples right away. I’m waiting to close with Naples.”‘
Gargano played for Napoli from 2007 to 2015; appropriately, in his birthday post, Nunez posed alongside balloons coincidentally coloured Napoli’s trademark sky blue.
Nunez is a puzzling case of a striker seemingly having all the ingredients without the recipe coming together.
He arrived from Benfica in 2022 with a reputation for pace, power, and prolific finishing after the Reds splashed an initial £64m on him, with add-ons rising to a potential £85m.
But a litany of misses have piled up into a seeming mental block which have prevented the 26-year-old from ever hitting the heights he did in Portugal.
A haul of 33 goals across his first two seasons was respectable but Nunez only netted sparingly over the last campaign.
However, he did chip in with some important strikes, most notably against Brentford in January, when he came off the bench to score two stoppage-time goals and win 2-0.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot was critical of Nunez at times last season and reduced him to a bit-part role after he had more joy under Jurgen Klopp.
After Nunez missed a golden chance to score a winner against Aston Villa in February, Slot revealed he was upset at how the striker’s workrate dipped as a result.
‘I will tell him that you can miss a chance but you cannot miss out on workrate,’ said Slot. ‘That is the life of a striker, he will miss chances and score some. It is part of the job of a No 9, you miss when people expect you to score.
‘It is not part of the job of a No 9 to slow down in work rate. And that is something we will talk about.
‘I can accept every miss, especially from a player who scored two very important goals away at Brentford and that scored for us in the home game against Villa. I would prefer him to score but the word ‘chance’ says it all.
‘It is a chance and not 100 per cent that it goes in. I can accept misses but what is harder for me to accept is his behavior after the chance. It got too much in his head, he was not the usual Darwin who works his ass off and makes sure he helps the team.
‘He was too disappointed that he missed that chance. Maybe we will never know but maybe that was why he was just a fraction short the moment afterwards (when Emiliano Martinez won the ball in a 50-50 challenge).
‘I always truly believe it is always best to have Wataru Endo’s mindset. For the whole season he does not complain, keeps on going and keeps on going, whenever we need him he is ready. That is very difficult and there are not many players that can do this.
‘It is not the chance but the 20 minutes afterwards that I will talk to Darwin about.’
Napoli boss Antonio Conte has already secured Kevin De Bruyne and is on the hunt for somebody to get on the end of his passes, with Victor Osimhen once again the subject of hot interest.
Mail Sport understands Liverpool want to sign a striker if they can afford one.
Newcastle’s Alexander Isak is the dream but he is likely to command an even bigger fee than the club’s outlay on playmaker Florian Wirtz, an initial £100m rising to £116m with add-ons.
