Tottenham have been offered the chance to sign a former Liverpool star who is increasingly desperate to leave his current club, according to a new report.
Tudor braced for crunch Spurs debut against Arsenal
This afternoon, Igor Tudor will walk out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the very first time as head coach and face Arsenal in the North London Derby.
It is, by any measure, one of the most daunting debuts in English football.
A sold-out ground. A fanbase desperate for something — anything — to believe in, and an opponent sitting top of the Premier League with a genuine title in their sights.
Tottenham head into it in dire shape.
They haven't won in their last eight league games, including a 2-0 humbling at Manchester United and a 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle just ten days ago.
Since Thomas Frank's sacking, the club have turned to Tudor to steady a ship that has been listing badly for months. Tudor has inherited a squad low on confidence and a dressing room that has endured a wretched run of form stretching back to the autumn.
The derby could not have come at a worse time. Or perhaps, for Tudor, it represents the perfect opportunity to make an immediate statement.
Whatever happens on Sunday afternoon, the business of rebuilding this squad will continue in the background, especially after another injury-ravaged season leaves the Spurs squad threadbare.
And it appears Tottenham are already looking at ways to strengthen significantly when the summer window opens.
Tottenham hold talks with ex-Liverpool star Darwin Núñez via intermediaries
TEAMtalk journalist Graeme Bailey now says that the club have been in contact with intermediaries representing Darwin Núñez, the Uruguayan striker currently stranded at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
His situation has now taken a dramatic turn that could open the door to a Premier League return.
Nunez made the move to Riyadh last summer in a deal worth around £46 million, departing Liverpool after a spell that never quite fulfilled its early promise.
He went on to hit nine goals in 24 appearances for Al-Hilal. Then, in February, the club signed Karim Benzema from rivals Al-Ittihad — and Nunez found himself squeezed out entirely due to the Saudi Pro League's strict foreign player quota.
As a result, he cannot play competitive league football again this season, and with the World Cup on the horizon, that is a situation he cannot allow to carry on.
Nunez has been left shocked by the development and is now seriously considering his future.
European clubs have been alerted to his availability, including Tottenham and Newcastle, who have both held talks with the South American's intermediaries.
Even if both sides have been offered the number nine, the major stumbling block is financial.
Nunez earns a reported £400,000 a week in Saudi Arabia, which is far out of Tottenham's reach.
A return to Europe would require him to accept a "huge" pay cut, but Nunez is apparently increasingly open to that possibility in a boost for Spurs and the Magpies.
For Tottenham, a player of Nunez's profile and age — still only 26 — would represent exactly the kind of bold statement signing the club needs.
Whether Tudor survives long enough to see it happen, of course, is another question entirely.
First things first, though, there is a derby to win.