Liverpool manager Arne Slot has insisted he has never been instructed who he can play by those in the boardroom at Anfield.
Reports in Portugal this week claimed that Darwin Nunez’s continued absence from the starting side is due to a clause in the player’s contract.
A Bola claim Liverpool will have to pay €5m euros (£4.27m) to the forward’s former club Benfica if Nunez starts another game for the Reds.
🚨 The plan is clear since February and it hasn’t changed: Darwin Nunez, expected to leave Liverpool in the summer.
After offer turned down by the club in January from Al Nassr, all options will be considered in the upcoming months.
Darwin, also open to new chapter. pic.twitter.com/GLxq4UdUuO
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 19, 2025
The Uruguay international is expected to leave Liverpool at the end of the campaign after three inconsistent campaigns at Anfield. The Portuguese outlet has claimed Liverpool are keen to avoid paying an additional fee for the 25-year-old, who has not started a fixture for the club since February.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, Slot warned against believing media reports.
“Do you always believe what the journalists say? Not always? Me neither. Sometimes it’s true, but sometimes it’s better not to believe everything that is written about players. It’s completely new to me.
“I’ve said many times that I am working at a club where it is really nice to work at. For me, it’s very important to have a great working environment and I have that with Richard [Hughes, the Liverpool sporting director].
“So the last, last, last thing that he will do is tell me if you play him, it will cost us this much. That he will never, never do. I don’t know if it’s true or not, because we never talk about that. He never interferes with the line-up.
“It might be true, but if a journalist says it, you have to balance.”
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