Liverpool forced to pay hidden £8.5 million Darwin Nunez clause after Man City draw

Liverpool will have to shell out £8.5 million because of Darwin Nunez's involvement against Manchester City.

Nunez started up front for Jurgen Klopp's side at the Etihad Stadium but failed to get on the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw.

The Uruguay international scored three goals for his country in the international break but couldn't continue that hot streak in the Premier League.

Harvey Elliott replaced Nunez with five minutes to go, although that wasn't the end of his involvement on Saturday afternoon.

At full-time, Nunez and City manager Pep Guardiola exchanged words as Klopp held his record signing back.

Nunez joined Liverpool from Benfica in a £85 million deal in 2022, although the Mirror reports that the fee is yet to be paid in full.

Only £64 million was paid upfront, with the other £21 million made up of various add-ons.

Liverpool paid £4.3 million when Nunez made his 10th appearance for the club and they'll now pay an additional £8.5 million after the 24-year-old played his 60th game for the Reds.

The outstanding £8.5 million will 'depend on the individual and collective performance of the team throughout the contract.'

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Nunez has scored seven goals and registered six assists in 18 games for Liverpool this term.

Klopp addressed his altercation with Guardiola, admitting he found it difficult to understand Nunez.

The German coach explained: "I love them both and so I tried to calm the situation down. I was absolutely not involved, surprisingly!

"I am not sure I am the right one to explain it without knowing 100 per cent what happened because I didn't understand a word.

"It was emotion. Pep wants to win, we want to win. Both didn't win so obviously nobody was really happy and these things can happen.

"It was nothing to do with this historical fierce rivalry between the clubs – I don't think Darwin knows anything about that."

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Erling Haaland opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark with his 50th Premier League goal in 48 games, the quickest anyone's ever reached that milestone.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's long-range effort 10 minutes from time was enough to ensure the points were shared.

A victory for either team would've seen them top the table. Arsenal have instead leapfrogged both after a late 1-0 win over Brentford later on Saturday.