Darwin Nunez is expected to leave Al-Hilal this summer after the club and the striker reportedly agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent. If the move is finalized, he will depart as a free agent and become Al-Hilal’s first summer exit.
The timing matters because Nunez has not played a competitive match since February, and the long pause has turned a costly signing into an unresolved squad issue. Al-Hilal paid around $62 million to bring him from Liverpool in 2025, and the hope was that he would become a central part of the attack.
He never fully settled into that role. Nunez scored six goals and provided four assists in 16 league appearances, but he never became an undisputed starter, and his route into the side narrowed further after Al-Hilal signed Karim Benzema in the winter transfer window. Saudi Pro League rules limit how many foreign players can be registered, and Nunez lost his registration spot to make room for Benzema’s arrival.
That left him under contract but out of first-team action, a situation that grew harder to justify as the months passed. The freeze also hurt his standing with Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has increasingly favored players getting regular club minutes as he shapes his pool for the 2026 World Cup.
For Al-Hilal, a mutual termination would close the book on a high-profile signing that never reached its expected scale. For Nunez, the next step is straightforward but still unannounced: once the paperwork is complete, he should be available on the market as a free agent this summer, with his next club now the main unanswered question.
