Jose Mourinho is now looking to make a Liverpool player his first major signing after taking over at Fenerbahce.
The Portuguese tactician has just been appointed by the Turkish giants as they aim to wrestle the Super Lig title back from bitter rivals Galatasaray – who won the league with 102 points despite Fenerbahce impressively winning 98 points of their own last season.
So, who is Jose Mourinho trying to sign from Liverpool? Let’s take a look…
Jose Mourinho in talks to sign Darwin Nunez from Liverpool
A story from Ajansspor in Turkey now states that the 61-year-old wants to bring Liverpool No.9 Darwin Nunez to Fenerbahce.
The Turkish news outlet believe Mourinho and Jorge Mendes – arguably football’s most powerful agent – are in discussions to sign the Uruguay international, as they look to replace Michy Batshuayi.
Ajansspor pay reference to the fact Nunez deleted all of his Liverpool-related Instagram posts at the end of last season amid criticism for several missed chances, suggesting that the South American could be unhappy at Anfield.
The 25-year-old scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists in 54 appearances last season, but failed to score in the final eight Premier League outings as Liverpool’s title hopes fizzled out.
This deal surely won’t happen
In our view, Fenerbahce have little chance of signing Nunez this summer.
Liverpool paid £85m to sign the Uruguayan from Benfica in June 2022, and while his finishing has been frustrating at times, he is still a highly effective forward who could thrive under Arne Slot.
Mourinho certainly has the pulling power to bring stars like the £140,000-a-week Nunez to Fenerbahce, although we simply cannot see this deal happening, mainly due to finances.
Ajansspor believe Fenerbahce initially want to sign Nunez on loan – something Liverpool will surely scoff at – while there is little chance of the Super Lig outfit being able to pay a transfer fee upwards of £50m.
Therefore, we would be very surprised if Mourinho managed to sign the Liverpool striker this summer.