{"id":61480,"date":"2026-07-27T12:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/61480\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T12:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:41:07","slug":"barcelona-linked-striker-chooses-next-destination-as-saudi-arabia-exit-nears-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/61480\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona-linked striker chooses next destination as Saudi Arabia exit nears &#8211; report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Darwin Nunez is closing in on a departure from Al Hilal, with the Uruguayan striker expected to leave the Saudi club on loan with an option to buy running until June 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently with Al Hilal at their pre-season training camp in Austria, Nunez has been pushing for a move away and has now received approval to leave under the proposed arrangement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given his situation, the South American centre-forward had <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/south-american-striker-keeping-a-close-eye-on-barcelona-transfer-activity-amid-uncertain-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">emerged on the radars of FC Barcelona<\/a>, as a potential low-cost alternative to Julian Alvarez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, the Blaugrana were recently offered the opportunity to sign Nunez by his representatives, and the club considered the proposal, although no move materialised.<\/p>\n<p>Portugal emerges as most likely destination<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, according to Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah (h\/t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sport.es\/es\/noticias\/barca\/darwin-nunez-elige-destino-salida-132848002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SPORT<\/a>), Nunez is close to returning to the Portuguese league, with Porto and Benfica emerging as the leading contenders for his signature.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/uruguay-v-spain-group-h-fifa-world-cup-2026-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Darwin Nunez, Uruguay and Al-Hilal player\" class=\"wp-image-206774\"  \/>Headed back to Portugal. (Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The striker initially sought to terminate his contract, but the parties have instead settled on a loan agreement. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of the deal, the striker is prepared to forgo part of his salary, while Al Hilal will continue to contribute towards his wages for one season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Negotiations are underway, with all parties hoping to complete the transfer before Al Hilal return to Saudi Arabia on 3 August.<\/p>\n<p>Successful spell at Benfica<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nunez enjoyed the most successful period of his career at Benfica after joining the club from Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Portuguese side secured his signing ahead of Barcelona by paying a \u20ac25 million transfer fee, a deal that proved to be highly successful. His performances in Lisbon earned him a move to Liverpool for more than \u20ac75 million.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785156067_992_uruguay-v-cabo-verde-group-h-fifa-world-cup-2026-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Darwin Nunez, Uruguay and Al-Hilal player\" class=\"wp-image-206803\"  \/>No Barcelona move for Nunez. (Photo by Lars Baron\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the striker struggled to establish himself in the Premier League and has also failed to settle during his spell in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A return to Portugal appeals to Nunez despite interest from several other clubs. Atlanta United from the MLS, and <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-linked-27-year-old-striker-close-to-agreeing-loan-move-to-turkey-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Besiktas made approaches<\/a>, but none succeeded in reaching an agreement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona were also offered the chance to sign the striker on loan but have not taken any further steps to pursue the move.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Blaugrana\u2019s full focus remains on signing Julian Alvarez, although they are slowly starting to accept that a move for the Argentine might not materialise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darwin Nunez is closing in on a departure from Al Hilal, with the Uruguayan striker expected to leave&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,15828,223],"class_list":["post-61480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-darwin-nunez","tag-fc-barcelona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}