Al-Hilal are done with him
Eighth in the table. That is where Darwin Nunez has landed.
Al-Diriyah confirmed the loan on their social channels late on Saturday. The 27-year-old Uruguay striker leaves Al-Hilal after the Riyadh club decided he had no part to play this season.
Nobody in Saudi Arabia was surprised. His name had been circling for the best part of a week, and the noises coming out of Al-Hilal were not subtle. A full international forward moving to a mid-table side, wages and expectations attached, is now an ordinary transaction in this league.
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Two loans, one afternoon
Nunez was not even Al-Diriyah’s only arrival that day. Hours before, they had announced Enzo Millot, on loan from Al-Ahli. Two attacking players, two loans, no transfer fees.
The strategy writes itself. Al-Diriyah are hoovering up the players the league’s heavyweights want off their books. Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli shed salary, Al-Diriyah get quality they could never buy outright.
Benfica, Liverpool, Riyadh, and now this
Nunez has spent five years moving between clubs where the fit was never quite right. Benfica made him a star, Liverpool made him a lightning rod, Al-Hilal made him surplus. Each move came with a reset that never quite took.
The Gulf window has not slowed down. Malcom left Al-Hilal for Al-Jazira the same day. Mehdi Taremi went from Olympiakos to Al-Wasl. Saudi and Emirati clubs are still trading squad players at pace with the deadline closing in.
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