Uruguayan international Darwin Nunez was a big-money signing for Liverpool from Benfica. He was a goal-scorer in Portugal and joined with a reputation as one of the best strikers in Europe, but in his first year with the club he missed all the best chances and finished the season without playing as a centre-forward.
In his second year, his performances in the middle of the front line improved.His assists have increased, but his decision-making rate in front of goal has not improved much, as he often fails to get on frame or hits the keeper in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper or other easy decisions.
He scored dramatic goals against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, and his emotive style of play on the pitch has made him popular, but he is noticeably lacking as a scorer.
Former Spain U-21 defender Jose Enrique, who played as a left-back for Liverpool during his playing days, said the 24-year-old forward has not reached the level required at Anfield and lamented his performance, which continues to wipe out his chances.
“Darwin Nunez is simply not at the required level and he never has been,”
“He is a good player, I like him a lot and the fans love him, but he isn’t at the level of some of Liverpool’s best forwards from the past. He is a good player but he is not a Liverpool number nine.”
“He could play for a lot of top teams in Europe, but he is not good enough for those that are challenging for trophies. Their old front three was one of the world’s best and now this current team only really has two goalscorers – Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota.”
“Cody Gakpo is not a goalscorer and he won’t get you 20 goals every season like Sadio Mane and Salah did. Roberto Firmino wasn’t a player to score that many goals, but he gave you so much more outside of that. Darwin Nunez gets a lot of chances but misses them too frequently.”
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The front three were some of the finest attackers in the world.It is difficult for a player to be compared to those three, but the current front line is tinny in its combinations, and with the Egyptian winger starting to decline, the Portuguese forward is probably the only one who can be called a true striker.
However, it is true that he is showing up for his chances. What remains to be seen is whether he can learn to settle down and play the game in front of goal.
He is also only 24 years old, so there is still time for him to turn into a world-class striker, and hopefully he will become a scorer who will go down in Anfield’s history.