“You don’t like football, you like money!” - Liverpool ace Darwin Nunez slammed by ex-Chelsea star after Al-Hilal transfer agreement

Former Chelsea player Frank Leboeuf has slammed Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez for agreeing to join Al-Hilal. He believes that the Uruguayan has put money over football by deciding to make the move to the Saudi Pro League.

Speaking on ESPN FC, Leboeuf said that it was too early for Nunez to leave European football and that he should have considered the Saudi Pro League after turning 30. He believes the Reds made the right call by agreeing to sell him, as the striker was not thinking about football and said:

"Yes, I am [disappointed to see Nunez go to Saudi Arabia]. He's 25-26 years old and I think it's too early. With all due respect to the Saudi league, and I'm pretty sure he's going to enjoy it, but as I always say, if you're under 30 and you decide to go to those exotic leagues, you don't like football, you like money! That's fair but you decide to say goodbye to what you love the most, which is football."

"When you're above 30, no problem you can go there, enjoy, get the money. But Nunez could have gone somewhere else, maybe be the player he was in Portugal and enjoy playing in Italy in one of the top five leagues in the world. Maybe go to the Saudi league five years later. That's why it's disappointing for me. Well done L'pool, get the money, bye bye Nunez. But yeah, that's not nice."

According to The Athletic, Al-Hilal has a 53 million plus add-ons deal in place to sign Darwin Nunez from Liverpool. The 26-year-old has agreed terms and is set to undergo his medical soon.

Journalist questions why Newcastle United did not move for Liverpool star

English journalist Tim Vickery was on talkSPORT and questioned why Newcastle United did not take the opportunity to sign Darwin Nunez. He believes that the Liverpool star was the ideal striker for Eddie Howe, and added that a cash-plus-player bid was there to be sealed.

He said:

"Does he want to go to Saudi? We haven't heard that one yet. And I think there's the perfect solution here, couldn't be better. Isak comes to Liverpool, Darwin Nunez and some cash go to Newcastle. The Newcastle fans, they'd like the cash, and I think they'd really like Darwin as well. I would be very sad to see him go, see him leave the Premier League because he's always 100 per cent."

Liverpool have made a bid for Alexander Isak, but the £110 million offer was swiftly rejected by Newcastle United.