How Napoli’s deal with Liverpool for Darwin Nunez collapsed after 70 days of talks

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 27: Darwin Nunez of Liverpool celebrates the teams victory and confirmation of winning the Premier League title after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield on April 27, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Recent reports in Italy claim that Napoli are no longer targeting a move for Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez, and that they will instead close a deal with Udinese for Lorenzo Lucca, but how and why did the talks for the Uruguay international fall through, despite 70 days of negotiations? 

Why Napoli ditched Darwin after 70 days of talks 

The Partenopei, who sold Khvicha Kvaratshelia to Paris Saint-Germain in January, are on the verge of selling Victor Osimhen to Galatasaray for €75m and have also sealed a return to the Coppa Campioni for the 2025-26 season, are expected to have a heavy summer of recruitment. 

This summer has already brought the arrival of Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City, and could also soon see the signings of Lucca, Noa Lang, Sam Beukema and potentially Dan Ndoye and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic as well. 

According to Alfredo Pedullà (via Caught Offside), Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez had also been at the top of Napoli’s transfer targets at the beginning of the transfer window. 

Discussions between Liverpool and the Partenopei continued until just under 48 hours ago, when Napoli decided to proceed with a deal for Lucca rather than for Nunez. 

There had been no issues on personal terms – Napoli were prepared to go beyond the €5m-per-season mark in a wage packet for the Uruguayan. 

Napoli had presented Liverpool with an initial bid of €42m, which was later turned down, before coming back in with an offer in excess of €50m before deciding to go down the Lucca route when it became clear that Nunez was going to become too expensive. 

Instead, Lucca is set to cost less than €40m, potentially in the region of €35m, which Napoli will be able to spread by bringing him in on an initial loan deal with an obligation to buy at a later date. 

Additionally, some of the money saved on the abandoned Lucca deal will now go towards other targets, potentially on the likes of Ndoye or Milinkovic-Savic. 

Nunez, meanwhile, still has other options this transfer window, including from Simone Inzaghi’s Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.