Liverpool are on the verge of signing Darwin Nunez after agreeing a £85 million deal with Benfica, according to reports.
Liverpool’s director of football, Julian Ward, travelled to Portugal this weekend to hold extensive talks with Benfica over a move for the Uruguayan forward.
According to The Times, the Premier League club have now agreed to pay €75 million (£64m) up front, plus a further £12.8m in appearance add-ons and £8.5m in performance-related bonuses.
Nunez is now due to begin his medical tests with Liverpool on Monday and the forward is expected to sign a six-year contract.
The Times also report that both Jurgen Klopp and Virgil van Dijk have been instrumental in helping convince Nunez to join Liverpool this summer.
The Uruguayan had attracted interest from Manchester United, Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain.
Nunez has just enjoyed his most successful season of his career with 34 goals goals in all competitions for Benfica.
He finished the campaign as the Primeira Liga’s top scorer with 26 goals but Benfica fell short in the title race as they ended up 17 points behind champions Porto.
Nunez scored in both legs of Benfica’s Champions League knockout-stage tie against Liverpool last season and Klopp was full of praise for the striker.
‘Extremely good-looking boy, eh? And a decent player as well. Really good, really good, you have to say,’ Klopp said in April.
‘I knew before, of course, but he played pretty much in front of me with his tough battles with Ibou Konate.
‘Physically strong, quick, plus calm around his finish, when he finished the goal off he was really calm.
‘Good, really, really good. How we say in these situations, if he stays healthy it’s a big career ahead of him.’
Nunez will be Liverpool’s second signing of the summer after they secured a £7.7m deal with Fulham for Fabio Carvalho last month.
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