Darwin Nunez's Rapid Decline at Al Hilal

Darwin Nunez arrived in Saudi Arabia as a statement signing. He is now walking away for nothing.

Barely a year after swapping Liverpool for the Saudi Pro League in a €53 million move, the Uruguayan striker is set to leave Al Hilal on a free transfer. It is a brutal end to a project that was supposed to restore his reputation, not shred it. There is already talk of a Premier League return, with Newcastle United and Chelsea tracking developments, but the swiftness of Al Hilal’s decision poses an obvious question: how did it unravel this quickly?

From marquee arrival to expendable asset

When Liverpool brought Nunez in from Benfica around four years ago, they sanctioned a package that could have climbed to £85m. That figure carried weight. It framed him as a centrepiece for the next era at Anfield, a forward with the chaos, power and penalty-box instinct to torment defences for years.

Fast forward to last summer and Al Hilal believed they were buying into that same potential. A 26-year-old international, entering his peak, with Champions League pedigree and a point to prove. On paper, it was sound business.

On the pitch, it never fully caught fire.

Nunez’s numbers in Saudi Arabia were respectable rather than transformative: nine goals and five assists in 22 appearances. Decent output, but not the kind that makes a foreign player untouchable in a league governed by strict quotas. He showed flashes — runs in behind, aggressive pressing, sharp finishes — but never quite seized the role as the undisputed focal point.

Then Karim Benzema walked through the door.

The foreign-player squeeze

The turning point was not a missed chance or a bad run of form. It was a rulebook.

The Saudi Pro League limits each club to 10 foreign players, with a maximum of eight over the age of 20 and two under-20s. When Al Hilal moved to bring in Benzema in the winter window, something had to give. The club did not simply reshuffle; it sacrificed a major investment.

Nunez saw his playing registration withdrawn to comply with the foreign-player rule. No long goodbye, no gradual phase-out. One of the most expensive forwards in recent years suddenly found himself on the outside looking in, not because of an injury or a dramatic loss of form, but because the squad list could no longer fit him.

The contrast with Benzema underlined why the decision came so ruthlessly. Since arriving in early February, the Frenchman has matched Nunez’s tally of nine goals and five assists — in 10 fewer games. Where Nunez had hinted, Benzema delivered. The hierarchy up front became brutally clear.

World Cup clock ticking

For Nunez, the timing could hardly be worse.

The World Cup looms this summer, and a striker in his mid-twenties should be playing his way into form, not searching for minutes and match sharpness. Instead, he has not played a competitive club game since 16 February.

His last meaningful club contribution came in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, where he struck twice in Al Hilal’s final outing before the knockout rounds. Even that high point came with a sting. When the round of 16 rolled around in April, Nunez was left out of the squad entirely as Al Hilal went out, another sign of how quickly his status had slipped.

The lack of club football has inevitably cast a shadow over his place with the national team. In the friendlies against England and Algeria at the end of March, he was reduced to late substitute appearances in both games. Those cameos should be enough to keep him in the squad, but they do not guarantee anything more than that.

For a forward once valued at £85m, the next move is now about more than reputation or transfer fees. It is about rhythm, relevance, and rescuing a World Cup year that has drifted off course.

If Newcastle or Chelsea decide to act, they will not just be betting on talent. They will be betting that, given a stable role and a clear run of games, Darwin Nunez can finally turn potential into permanence — before this crucial chapter of his career closes on a whimper.