Arsenal target Nunez would have cost just £10m from Penarol, says expert

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Arsenal are among the clubs reportedly interested in Benfica striker Darwin Nunez as he prepares to face Liverpool.

A fee of £65 million has been quoted for the Uruguayan hitman, and that price could rise if he knocked the Reds out of the Champions League at Anfield.

But according to iNews, Nunez could have been a £10 million bargain if a potential suitor had taken the chance to land him from Penarol, who he left in 2019.

Jeremy Steele, the CEO of data company FC Analytics which advises clubs on recruitment, said: “The South American market is the one to watch in the post-Brexit environment and Nunez is the example that I’d cite.

“Clubs in England could have got him for £10m directly from Penarol. Now it’s 10 times that.

“If you have good people in South America looking for players, it feels like it’s time to trust their judgement.”

What Steele says is true, but the impact of player development cannot be ignored and the Portuguese league is a perfect place for South American talents to develop in European football before making a big move.

Perhaps if Nunez had made a £10 million move as a teenager, it would have stunted his development, or he could have struggled to cope with the pressure at that age.

But his improvement has been a lot smoother for the step to Benfica in between and even then, Europe’s top clubs have given him another season to develop in Portugal.

It looks like he will not join any club not in the Champions League and that is something for Arsenal to consider during the run-in.