Fabrizio Romano has written in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside via Substack to respond to the recent transfer rumours involving Christopher Nkunku being offered to Liverpool in the summer.
The France international is heading to Chelsea next season, as Romano has previously reported for CaughtOffside, but there was also talk of Liverpool being one of the teams in the running for his signature.
A report from the Telegraph claimed Liverpool turned down the chance to sign Nkunku as they opted for Darwin Nunez instead, and Romano has stated that there was actually no chance of the Reds or anyone else signing Nkunku last summer.
The reporter did confirm, however, that bringing in Nunez from Benfica remained their priority anyway.
“There’s been a report that Liverpool turned down the chance to sign Christopher Nkunku in the summer. However, I’m told it was impossible to sign Nkunku in the summer for any club as RB Leipzig extended his contract with a clause to sell him in 2023, not last July,” Romano said.
“Liverpool always wanted Darwin Nunez as their priority target, it was decided internally; of course Pep Lijnders was involved in the decision but it’s the same for Klopp – Liverpool work all together on signings.”
Nunez hasn’t performed well for Liverpool so far, so one imagines there’ll be a fair few fans wondering if Nkunku could’ve been the better option, though it’s not clear when it would have been realistic for them to get him.
It will now be intriguing to see how the Frenchman gets on at Chelsea next season and if he shows himself to be a bigger success in the Premier League than Nunez has been.
The Uruguay international looked a superb talent at Benfica, but we’ve seen several top young talents struggle when making the step up to English football.