How and Why Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez
Liverpool have ruthlessly put an end to the Darwin Nunez saga…
By signing the Uruguayan for a reported €75m fee, which is around £64m.
And it’s a fee that could rise as high as £85.6m when performance related add-ons are taken into account.
Nunez had a number of potential suitors from Premier League clubs.
So how and why did Liverpool sign Darwin Nunez?
HOW LIVERPOOL SIGNED NUNEZ
Throughout all of the build up to the Summer Transfer Window, Nunez was a name on the lips of most clubs, after enjoying a break-out season with Benfica in a campaign which saw him notch 26 goals and four assists in 28 Liga Portugal games.
The 22-year-old personally announced himself to Klopp, scoring in both legs of the Champions League Quarter-Final clash to take his tally up to six goals in 10 UCL appearances.
Klopp was clearly impressed and it has since been said that the German was in private talks with the Striker two months prior to the deal being agreed.
WHY LIVERPOOL SIGNED NUNEZ
Quite simply, he’s proven himself as a reliable goalscorer this season and serves as a viable replacement for the departing Sadio Mane.
Nunez is primarily a centre-forward, but has been deployed as a left winger in a 4-3-3 system on five occasions this season, scoring ten goals and supplying two assists. An unbelievable return from the position that Mane currently occupies for Liverpool.
This makes the 22-year-old a versatile option in the attack for Klopp, who now has all bases covered in attack:
A target-man in Nunez
A false-nine in Firmino/Jota
A complete forward in Nunez/Firmino/Jota
An inverted-winger in Salah/Diaz/Jota/Nunez
An inside-forward in Nunez/Diaz/Jota
A support-winger in Diaz/Jota
For that reason, although Nunez will play the majority of his games as a centre-forward, we may see him on the left wing a handful of times next season in an attacking line that will mix and match every other game.
THE VERDICT
Liverpool proved themselves as the league’s most creative side in the season just gone, creating 97 big chances, 10 clear of Manchester City.
Though, they ranked third in the league for big chances missed with 59. Their main culprit was Diogo Jota who missed 14 chances with a shot conversion rate of 11.7% in the Premier League.
For comparison, Nunez achieved a shot conversion rate of 23.4% in the Liga Portugal - a metric that ranks him as the most clinical finisher among the Liverpool squad by some distance, with the likes of Salah and Mane registering a shot conversion rate of 12.8%, respectively.
As a lone centre-forward, Nunez will benefit hugely from Liverpool’s directness and can offer Klopp an immediate solution to his big chances missed problem in the same way that Haaland will for City.
Overall it’s a promising signing and, despite the huge price-tag, is more logical than most think.