The great operation of the market, the transfer of Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid, was aborted by the attacker’s decision to remain at PSG, but other notables in Europe are hunting for the most precious asset: the goal. Liverpool, Bayern, Barça or Atlético are looking to reinforce their attack line with a top-level piece while Real Madrid is in full search to find a guaranteed footballer to oxygenate Karim Benzema. Darwin Núñez, Sadio Mané or Robert Lewandowski are the flashy names that are shaking up the shaker of signings in recent days. As if it were a multi-cushion billiards game, it is possible that when one of the operations is unsettled, the others begin to have free rein.
In this sense, in Portugal they see the landing of Núñez at Anfield very close. The 22-year-old Uruguayan has just had a brilliant season with Benfica, with whom he has scored 34 goals in 41 games and has become one of the revelations in the Champions League. Liverpool and Benfica met in the quarterfinals and the Uruguayan scored two goals against the English team. They suffered it up close and now they want to enjoy it. The Lisbon team is going to charge him a star price, since the transfer will be around 75 million plus another 25 in variables. That is to say that, when the sale is completed, Darwin Núñez will become the most expensive footballer in the history of Liverpool.
If Núñez is on his way to the Anfield entrance gate, the one facing the club’s exit ramp is Sadio Mané. The 30-year-old Senegalese ends his contract in 2023 and wants to embark on a new adventure. Bayern wants him but at the moment the Bavarian team’s offer does not reach Liverpool’s claims. The Germans, who are not usually one of the teams that pull the most checkbooks, have made a proposal of about 35 million and the English club wants to enter about 50 for a very established player who still has a long way to go.
With more goals than Mané but with more years (33), Robert Lewandowski continues to press to leave a Bayern in which he has been the wishbone since 2014. He has one season left on his contract and Bayern, who do not have economic problems or urgencies to sell him he’s not going to give it away. The Munich team understands that the passing of the days can favor them when it comes to achieving a higher amount for one of the most proven strikers in the world. Barça, who have in their favor the footballer’s will to leave Munich, wants him at all costs but cannot pay an exorbitant price for his services. Bayern would be willing to talk seriously about 40 million. Meanwhile, Barça hopes to catch some economic oxygen in the coming weeks to be able to satisfy one of Xavi’s main requests.
Diego Simeone has also assigned duties to his technical secretariat to incorporate a substitute for Luis Suárez, and more so considering that the plummeting performance of Griezmann seems to have no end. Cholo would have been delighted with Lautaro Martínez (Inter) but at the moment he has no intention of moving from Milan. Atlético has Álvaro Morata, who returns from his two-year loan at Juventus, but Simeone does not have him. At the moment there is no agreement between the rojiblancos and the Turinese. The loan agreement included a purchase option of 35 million but Juve does not want to reach that figure anywhere near that figure and the colchoneros do not want to lower it.
With much less anxiety than Barça and Atlético, Madrid, already with two signings in their saddlebags, is moving to try to find a fresh striker so that Benzema can dose himself more. Neither Jovic nor Mariano convinced Carlo Ancelotti, nor were they saints of Zinédine Zidane’s devotion. The goal moves. It is the most sought after treasure.
