🔴BREAKING 🚨| Reports suggest new Liverpool manager Arne Slot wants striker Ollie Watkins as a replacement for Darwin Núñez this summer 😮

Liverpool to launch £90m offer for prolific Premier League striker as Slot shows door to Klopp

Darwin Nunez could be shown the door by new Liverpool boss Arne Slot

Arne Slot is looking to make a huge statement in his first summer as Liverpool manager by letting the club’s record signing, Darwin Nunez, depart Anfield this summer, with plans reportedly in place to sign a 155-goal striker as his big-money replacement.

The Merseysiders are preparing for what they hope will be an era of continued success at Anfield with Slot chosen as the man to replace Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool hotseat. The German has been a hugely-popular figure at club over his near nine-year stint in the hotseat, which officially came to an end on Sunday May 19 and in a 2-0 win over Wolves.

Stepping into his shoes will be no easy feat for any manager, but the club’s CEO of football, Michael Edwards, has opted for Slot in the belief that he the Dutchman operates in a similar way tactically as Klopp and also employs a similar man-management style to his predecessor. As a result, Liverpool hope the transition between Klopp to Slot will be relatively seamless.

However, with any new manager comes new ideas and, more often, new players, with some players who enjoyed a degree of favouritism under Klopp perhaps not having the same privileges with the new boss. And with some players coming towards the end of their natual cycles on Merseyside, changes among the playing squad are somewhat inevitable.

To that end, the club has already confirmed the departures of Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip at the end of their deals; two players whom had Klopp still been at the helm, may have earned new contracts.

However, the retention of some players will clearly also be key

Slot to brutally show Liverpool door to Darwin Nunez

In that regard, new deal talks will be held with Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk in an attempt to get them them stay. The trio are all on arrangements until summer 2025 and extending their stays will be seen as a major priority this summer.

also exclusively revealed that the new Reds boss wants to tie down one of his most promising youngsters too in Conor Bradley, who will be offered fresh terms despite his current arrangement running to summer 2027

However, one man who may be on his way is the club’s record signing, Nunez, who endured a difficult campaign this time around.

Having cost Liverpool a deal rising to £85m, the Uruguayan striker is the club’s most costly signing of all time. However, in the season just finished he came in for strong criticism for his profligacy in front of goal, having ended the campaign without a goal in his final 10 appearances.

Strongly linked with a move to Barcelona, having also removed all association of Liverpool on his Instagram page, Klopp was forced to defend the actions and performances of Nunez over the back end of the season

However, the man who has succeeded him at Anfield has seemingly got other ideas and The Sun claims Slot is already gearing up to replace him with the significantly-more prolific Ollie Watkins.

Valued at £90m, Watkins has just enjoyed the season of his life at Aston Villa, finishing the season with 27 goals in all competitions and also claiming double figures in the assists column to help fire Unai Emery’s side into the Champions League for the first time since 1983.

Anfield raid for Watkins has already won approval

Villa would, of course, fight tooth and nail to retain the services of their star striker, whose goals also fired Villa into the UEFA Conference League semi-finals, and are protected by the fact their striker signed a new deal last autumn to keep him at the club until 2028.

However, Liverpool boss Slot is reportedly determined to land his man and will make a concerted push at bringing the player to Anfield over the summer, with the Reds ready to fund any move by offloading Nunez first

Slot is understood to be keen on signing a better all-round No 9 to lead the line and knit together their attack – and Watkins is the player he has settled on – and a sizeable bid could yet prove too  irresistible for Villa to turn down, with the club having to walk a careful line over FFP regulations and potentially in need of a big sale this summer to fund their own summer business.

Any move by the Reds to sign Watkins has also already earned the thumbs up from Liverpool icon Robbie Fowler, who reckons either Watkins or Newcastle’s Alexander Isak would be ideal additions for his former club.

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With West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus also linked with a move, Fowler stated: “In the last six weeks or so, it has become evident that Liverpool need a player who can change things and make their attack more varied when it isn’t happening for them. I’m not saying that Kudus is that catalyst, however.

“Would [Kudus] make the club better? He would make the squad better, there is no doubt about that and he is an exciting player. There are two players I would genuinely like to see at the club; Ollie Watkins and Alexander Isak,” he said.

“I think Watkins has just signed a new deal, but I’ve got a lot of time for him and I think he is brilliant. Isak, for me, reminds me of Sadio Mane as well. I don’t want to put things in people’s heads, but I think he would be a good fit,” Fowler added.