Darwin Nunez: The Summer's Most Unpredictable Auction

Darwin Nunez is about to become the summer’s most unpredictable auction.

TEAMtalk has been told that nothing is settled yet, no agreement, no chosen destination – just a queue forming. As many as eight clubs have been offered the Uruguay striker, a player who only a year ago moved for a fee that underlined his status as one of the most coveted forwards on the market.

Now he is about to walk away for nothing.

The 26-year-old has agreed a mutual termination of his contract with Al-Hilal, ending a short, expensive chapter in Saudi Arabia. The deal that took him there was worth an initial €53m (£46m, $62m), a figure that framed him as a long-term centrepiece. Twelve months on, the project is over and the door to Europe swings wide open again.

Clubs across the continent have already been sounded out. Several in the Premier League have been approached about a potential move, aware that a player of his age, profile and pedigree rarely hits the free-agent market. For sporting directors juggling tight budgets, the chance to land a striker of his calibre without a transfer fee is the kind of opportunity that can change a window.

Nothing is advanced. No club is in the clear. But with Nunez available for talks and his camp listening, the scramble to secure his next destination is only just beginning.