Darwin Nunez’s long-term future in Saudi Arabia is looking unsettled with the ex-Liverpool striker now only able to play a maximum of five more matches for Al-Hilal this season
Kieran King Football Writer
16:02, 12 Feb 2026
Darwin Nunez has been left out of the Al-Hilal squad for the Saudi Pro League(Image: Getty Images)
Former Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez is facing a Saudi Arabia nightmare with Al-Hilal making the decision to exclude him from the squad list for domestic league matches.
Nunez, 26, joined Al-Hilal in a £46million deal from the Reds last August. Despite a bright start to life in the Middle East, scoring four goals in his opening five matches, Nunez has struggled for consistent form.
Indeed, the Uruguay international has netted just three times in his last 18 appearances for Al-Hilal – a run of form that saw the club dip into the transfer market and sign Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad.
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And with Benzema, who scored a hat-trick on his Al-Hilal debut in a 6-0 win against Al-Okhdood, becoming Simone Inzaghi’s first-choice centre forward, Nunez is set for limited game time between now and the end of the season.
This is because Al-Hilal have decided to NOT include Nunez in their list of foreign players for the rest of the Saudi Pro League season, following the January transfer window. He has been removed to make room for Benzema.
While Nunez is still eligible for the AFC Champions League, Al-Hilal have a maximum of five matches left in that competition, with one in the league phase and up to four in the knockouts.
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Darwin Nunez has scored seven goals for Al-Hilal (Image: Getty Images)
Saudi clubs are only allowed a maximum of eight foreign players aged 21 and above for league games, with Benzema, Yassine Bounou, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Theo Hernandez, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom and Marcos Leonardo the non-Saudi players included by Al-Hilal for the rest of the season.
French goalkeeper Mathieu Patouillet and Turkish defender Yusuf Akcicek have been registered under the birth category, while Simon Bouabri and Kader Meti were listed in the Under 21s category. The rest of Al-Hilal’s squad are all Saudi Arabian, including the likes of Salem Al Dawsari and Nasser Al Dawsari.
Former Arsenal defender Pablo Mari is the other foreign player to be left out of the Al-Hilal squad.
With Nunez now unavailable for Al-Hilal’s Saudi Pro League game against Al-Ettifaq on Friday, his next game is expected to be against Al-Wahda in the AFC Champions League on Monday.
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