Darwin Nunez is expected to ply his trade for Liverpool next season following a mega-money switch from Benfica and has something in his armoury that will help him adjust to English football.
The young Uruguay international is an imposing presence at six foot two, but is surprisingly quick for a tall front-man. Nunez was tracked at one of the fastest speeds from any player during last season's Champions League campaign - one that saw Benfica dumped out by his potential future club.
It was in that two-legged contest that Nunez really proved to the Anfield hierarchy what he could do up close and personal. The 22-year-old notched a goal in both the home and away legs of the quarter final clash.
The better of the two came at Anfield, as Nunez displayed the kind of composure of a striker many years his senior to convert beyond the onrushing Alisson.
Prior to that clash, ex-Liverpool forward Michael Owen analysed Nunez's game as links touting him with a move to the Reds first started to emerge and highlighted his 'deceptive' pace as something that takes defenders by surprise.
"He’s a great shape for starters," Owen told BT Sport in April. "Nowadays, if you’re going to lead the line on your own you’ve got to have a real presence and he’s got that. He’s got size, he’s good in the air and he’s quick as well. He’s deceptively quick.
"Only 22 years old. You think of how many decent strikers Uruguay have had in the past, and this lad looks like the next on the conveyor belt." Nunez's speed is likely to have caught some of the Reds hierarchy off guard when the two sides met given the striker's size and build.
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hardly kept his admiration of Nunez a secret prior to the news leaking of an £80million bid for the forward. Prior to the second-leg of their last-eight clash in Europe, the German even complimented the Benfica talisman on his looks.
"Extremely good-looking boy, eh? And a decent player as well! Really good, really good, you have to say," Klopp quipped. "I knew before, of course, but he played pretty much in front of me with his tough battles with Ibou Konate."
The Reds manager echoed Owen's sentiments by mentioning the speed of Nunez: "Physically strong, quick, plus calm around his finish, when he finished the goal off he was really calm.
"Good, really, really good. How we say in these situations, if he stays healthy it’s a big career ahead of him."
That career's next chapter now appears to be increasingly likely to come at Liverpool under Klopp's guidance.
