Only Virgil van Dijk has cost more than Darwin Nunez in the entire history of Liverpool, which suggests there will be a considerable amount of pressure on Nunez. The Uruguayan has the seal of approval from his teammates though.
Nunez has already shown signs of struggling to deal with that pressure in preseason, having responded to criticism via social media after a slow couple of games. Yet within the club, and Liverpool have a remarkable track record in recent years, there seems little doubt that he will be able to produce.
Speaking to SkySports lately, Trent Alexander-Arnold has explained that the Liverpool players were aware of his qualities when news of his signing began to break.
“When we played him, we knew he was a special player.”
“He brings goals scores a lot of goals, gets himself in good positions, will work hard and fight for wins – and that’s what we need and what we expect when we bring players in.”
Time to enjoy @Darwinn99's first-ever hat-trick for the Reds ??? pic.twitter.com/vztvgVwHzx
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 21, 2022
“That’s the club mentality, and I think he will slot in. Over the years there has been a few signings where, when the club is linked to them, us players get excited and we’re like ‘Yeah, he will work for us’. This was definitely one of them.”
Even if Nunez is not to make quite the impact that van Dijk had, there is no doubt that he adds a different string to Jurgen Klopp’s bow. The fluid front three of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino worked wonders during an incredible spell for Liverpool, but now with the likes of Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Nunez, Klopp will be able to adapt his attack almost entirely to the opposition. Whether he can afford to leave Nunez out of the team on occasion is another matter.
