Nunes became famous last season with 34 goals for Benfica, which reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League before being eliminated by Liverpool. Just 22 years old, the tall striker has established himself as one of the most exciting rising center forwards in Europe. Jürgen Klopp is preparing to lose Santia Mane to Bayern Munich and Liverpool are ready to pay a club record at Benfica to sign Nunes, who has also been watched by United. It has been suggested that they could make a late bid to acquire him, possibly exaggerating Liverpool. Earlier this week, United officials were due to meet with Nunez’s agent, Jorge Mendes, to see if a delayed hijacking would be fun. But, Goal reports, while the Red Devils would like to sign Nunez, having regular contacts with his representatives for quite some time, they are not prepared to get involved in a tug-of-war with the great rival Liverpool. Understandably, the forward has his heart set on going to Merseyside. MORE NEWS FOR TRANSFERS … Chelsea star Thiago Silva “sends messages” to help Tuhel sign, Manchester United “confident” of De Jong’s transfer as “in principle” Liverpool steal Jude Bellingham’s tweet in Erling Hallland United believe that even if they bid higher, they could lose. This is the case with Klopp having Nunes as his top priority, as he tries to renew his attacking line with a signature from Portugal once again, having signed Luis Diaz from Porto only in January. Erik ten Hag still wants to sign a new striker in the coming months, but Nunez will not be that player as it seems. At the moment, they are very focused on attracting soldiers to the midfield with No. 1 target Frankie de Jong of Barcelona. Talks with Barça continue and it seems more and more likely that the Dutchman will move to Old Trafford, despite the fact that he had previously made public his desire to stay in Spain. The La Liga heavyweights may reluctantly sell the former Ajax midfielder, who played under Ten Hague in Amsterdam, to raise money. United have not yet made an official offer and the club also do not want to be drawn into overpayments for De Jong, although he is considered a perfect player for Ten Hague’s style. The Dutch international will cost at least the 65 million pounds that Barça paid to get him from Ajax in 2019. The Red Devils have alternatives and are ready to leave De Jong if they can not make a deal with the pay they want to pay, says BBC Sport. West Ham’s Declan Rice and Leeds’ Calvin Phillips could be Plan B though they would be expensive. Ten Hag want to make five signings this summer and Jurrien Timber, the Ajax defender who flourished during his coaching career last term, could be another one of them. The Dutchman Timber, 20 years old, is a center back who can also function as a right back.
