Darwin Nunez‘s transfer fee is still a club-record for Liverpool, who are now close to having paid the full amount agreed with Benfica on his move in 2022.
Nunez swapped Benfica for Liverpool ahead of 2022/23 after two stellar performances against the Reds in the Champions League the season prior.
The Uruguayan took the No. 27 shirt upon arriving but later inherited the No. 9 following Roberto Firmino‘s exit, but he has struggled to live up to its reputation.
Liverpool are yet to pay more for a player than Nunez, whose transfer fee eclipsed those paid for Virgil van Dijk (£75m), Alisson (£65m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£60m) and Naby Keita (£52.75m) to top the list.
So how much did Liverpool sign Nunez for and how much of that have they paid Benfica?
What was Darwin Nunez’s transfer to Liverpool worth?
Benfica announced their deal with Liverpool as being worth a total of €100 million – or £85.36 million at the time in 2022.
That was made up of a guaranteed €75 million (£64.02m) and a further €25 million (£21.34m) negotiated in various performance-related add-ons.
Liverpool’s initial outlay was therefore not as much as the deals for Van Dijk or Alisson, but add-ons would take it above that.
How much have Liverpool paid of that fee?
Liverpool have paid at least £76.8 million of the overall package to sign Nunez so far.
That includes the up-front fee of around £64 million – albeit with payments staggered over the length of his six-year contract – and another £12.8 million in appearance-based add-ons.
Reports in Portugal explained that Benfica would be owed around £4.3 million after Nunez made 10 appearances and a further £8.5 million after 60 appearances.
Nunez has so far played 136 times for Liverpool, with his 10th outing coming against Rangers in the Champions League in October 2022 and his 60th against Man City in November 2023.
The remaining £8.5 million and change is linked to “individual and collective performance of the team throughout the contract.”
Will Liverpool have paid any performance bonuses?
Almost certainly.
While Nunez can be judged as a disappointing signing relative to his transfer fee, Liverpool have still won the Carabao Cup and the Community Shield during his time at the club so far.
He is expected to add a Premier League title to that this season.
Furthermore, Nunez has scored 40 goals in his 136 appearances for Liverpool to date, along with 24 assists.
The details of the performance-related bonuses agreed between Liverpool and Benfica are as yet unknown, but they will very likely have included the above.
That means there will be very little of the remaining of the £8.5 million still owed.
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