Darwin Nunez came "very close" to leaving Liverpool in the January transfer window after Al Nassr lodged two formal bids for his services, a report has claimed.

Al Nassr spent January searching for reinforcements to appease Cristiano Ronaldo and ultimately settled on Jhon Duran from Aston Villa, but that pursuit came only after Liverpool rejected the Saudi side's advances late in the transfer window.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool's refusal to sell Nunez was not due to the finances involved, but rather a fear of having to find a replacement as the transfer deadline inched closer.

Al Nassr's final bid for Nunez was worth over £62m, close to Liverpool's asking price for the Uruguay international, and the Saudi outfit were confident of being able to strike an agreement over personal terms with Nunez.

Liverpool, however, decided they did not want to head into the winter transfer market to replace Nunez, aware most of their preferred targets would either be unavailable or be drastically overvalued because of the timing in the window.

The decision was made to keep hold of Nunez, who manager Arne Slot admits has struggled to find a place in his tactical setup this season.

The club plan to reassess Nunez's future in the summer and could look to cash in on the £85m signing for the right price, although one buyer is off the table after Al Nassr parted with over £64m to sign Duran.

READ THE LATEST LIVERPOOL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP