Jurgen Klopp has backed Darwin Nunez to build on a solid yet unspectacular first season at Liverpool and realise his full potential.
Nunez became the Reds' record signing when he joined from Benfica last summer, arriving at Anfield in a deal worth £85m.
Ostensibly the replacement for Sadio Mane – who left for Bayern Munich shortly after Nunez completed his move to Merseyside – the Uruguayan striker has certainly taken time to settle, but he has shown signs of the quality that prompted Liverpool to cough up a club-record fee.
The 23-year-old's manager certainly has full faith in his ability, and has acknowledged the challenge of trying to hit peak performance levels in a team functioning well below its best. Asked by the Reds' official website whether there was more to come from Nunez, Klopp said:
"A lot more, that's clear. He needs time to settle. The most difficult thing for a striker is coming into a team that's not clicking.
"That's the most difficult thing, but then scoring 15 goals – imagine we would have had a normal season for us by our standards. A good season, a 70, 80 or more points season, he would have scored 20-odd goals, definitely. It's like each situation we created, if you miss it it's much more a highlight.
"Mo Salah in his best season with 40-odd goals missed chances. That's normal. Erling Haaland missed chances, that's how it is, but they had much more than we created in this period."
Since a brace in Liverpool's 7-0 demolition of Manchester United in March, Nunez has only scored once in 11 appearances – although five of his last seven involvements have been from the bench.
