Former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez is enduring a Saudi Arabian nightmare after Al-Hilal opted to leave him out of their squad list for domestic league fixtures. The 26-year-old moved to Al-Hilal from the Reds in a £46million transfer last August. While he initially impressed in the Middle East, netting four goals in his first five outings, Nunez has since struggled to maintain consistency.
The Uruguay international has managed just three goals in his previous 18 appearances for Al-Hilal, a poor run of form that prompted the club to enter the transfer market and secure Real Madrid icon Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad. With Benzema, who netted a hat-trick on his Al-Hilal debut in a 6-0 thrashing of Al-Okhdood, now established as Simone Inzaghi’s preferred striker, Nunez faces severely restricted playing opportunities for the remainder of the campaign.
Al-Hilal have chosen not to register Nunez on their foreign player list for the remaining Saudi Pro League season following the January transfer window. He has been dropped to accommodate Benzema.
Whilst Nunez remains available for the AFC Champions League, Al-Hilal have a maximum of five fixtures remaining in that tournament, with one in the league stage and potentially four in the knockout rounds.
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Saudi clubs are permitted a maximum of eight foreign players aged 21 and over for league matches, with Al-Hilal selecting Benzema, Yassine Bounou, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Theo Hernandez, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom and Marcos Leonardo as their non-Saudi players for the remainder of the season.
French goalkeeper Mathieu Patouillet and Turkish defender Yusuf Akcicek have been registered under the birth category, whilst Simon Bouabri and Kader Meti were listed in the Under 21s category. The remainder of Al-Hilal’s squad are all Saudi Arabian, including the likes of Salem Al Dawsari and Nasser Al Dawsari.
Former Arsenal defender Pablo Mari is the other foreign player to be excluded from the Al-Hilal squad.
With Nunez now unavailable for Al-Hilal’s Saudi Pro League fixture against Al-Ettifaq on Friday, his next match is expected to be against Al-Wahda in the AFC Champions League on Monday.