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1 year ago
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Liverpool will reportedly have to pay Benfica an additional £8.5million after Darwin Nunez made his 60th appearance for the club.
It was an eventful one for the Uruguayan striker, who was involved in a heated exchange with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola just after the final whistle in the 1-1 draw.
Nunez appeared to be upset by something Guardiola said and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had to drag him away.
Liverpool agreed to a club record £85million deal for Nunez, 24, when they signed him from Benfica in the summer of 2022.
That comprised £64m paid up front and the remaining £21m in add-ons and, according to the Daily Mirror, Liverpool now owe £8.5m after Nunez reached 60 games for them.
Darwin Nunez made his 60th Liverpool appearance in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Manchester City, reportedly triggering an £8.5million payment to old club Benfica
Nunez (left) and Pep Guardiola (second right) were caught up in a post-match row with the player having to be dragged away by his manager Jurgen Klopp
Nunez and Guardiola had to be kept apart after their exchange of words after the final whistle
They'd already paid the Portuguese club £4.3m after Nunez racked up 10 appearances.
The report says the final £8.5m owed will 'depend on the individual and collective performance of the team throughout the contract', which runs until 2028.
Nunez has so far scored 22 goals and contributed 10 assists in his 60 Liverpool outings. That includes seven goals and six assists in the current campaign.
He didn't score at the Etihad on Saturday, with Trent Alexander-Arnold earning Liverpool a point after Erling Haaland's first-half opener.
Klopp dragged his fiery Uruguayan striker away from the touchline confrontation before returning to hold an animated conversation with City boss Guardiola which ended with an embrace.
'I love them both and so I tried to calm the situation down. I was absolutely not involved, surprisingly!' explained Klopp afterwards.
'I am not sure I am the right one to explain it without knowing 100 per cent what happened because I didn't understand a word.
'It was emotion. Pep wants to win, we want to win. Both didn't win so obviously nobody was really happy and these things can happen.
'It was nothing to do with this historical fierce rivalry between the clubs – I don't think Darwin knows anything about that.'
After the game the Liverpool boss admitted 'I love them both' having acted as peacemaker
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the first half after a poor clearance from Alisson
Trent Alexander-Arnold levelled after the break with a well-aimed finish from outside the box
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