Darwin Nunez finally transferred by Al Hilal who incredibly cover his entire salary

Darwin Nunez has finally left Al Hilal.

Despite absolutely tenuous links to Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, the former Liverpool striker has ended up at fellow Saudi Pro League side Al Diriyah.

The deal is a loan, and rather astonishingly, Hilal will cover his entire salary.

Those factors show just how desperate Hilal were to shift the Uruguayan.

Nunez’s rapid Hilal exit story

Hilal paid £53million for the striker from Liverpool last summer but he essentially only played half a season.

In January Hilal signed Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad and had to remove a foreign player from their Saudi Pro League squad.

Nunez was the man who was deregistered, and he’s been for sale ever since.

Benzema’s Hilal future is also said to be in jeopardy, with the biggest spending side in the league trying to tempt Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.

Nunez’s downfall no surprise

As for Nunez, his downfall upon signing for Liverpool continues to be a big topic.

Record’s Luís Mateus wrote in his column: “Even with the Benfica transfer machine of the time, it was surprising. Perhaps bizarre.

“The Uruguayan was a good player, but not a phenomenal one. There were technical gaps that would certainly be exposed in the best league on the planet.

“How could Jurgen Klopp have agreed to this?”

He continued: “Benfica did their part, if we consider that this didn’t include the human factor. From then on, it was up to Liverpool.

“I wrote a few months ago about the process of signing Darwin. There was a leader with money from a European title and a willingness to spend it, and when Klopp, always very meticulous with signings, realised this, there was nothing he could do.

“The Uruguayan wasn’t on the Reds’ list of potential reinforcements, despite his interesting statistics.

“And there were also issues, such as not speaking English, being introverted and not very outgoing, and even having a tendency towards depression and superstition, which complicated his adaptation.

“The German tried. He positioned him on the left to exploit his powerful diagonal runs, he promoted events, conversations, group dynamics.

“However, the instability in front of goal didn’t disappear. At Anfield, the idea still lingers that a title was lost because of him. Even though they didn’t leave him alone.

“In England and other countries, everyone realized he wasn’t a £100 million player, or perhaps not even half that. And while his rise was rapid, his fall was precipitous.

“Darwin isn’t to blame for what happened to him in Saudi Arabia, but few believe in him anymore.

“And he will always serve as a reminder that the wrong context, without considering the players’ well-being, can quickly end good careers.”