Liverpool’s decision to invest £85million into purchasing Darwin Nunez this summer felt like a real sliding doors moment.
The club had for the past two years been working behind the scenes to start the process of freshening up their attack, aware that as a formidable trio, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were edging towards the twilight of their peak.
Diogo Jota joined from Wolves in the summer of 2020 for approximately £40million, while Luis Diaz was signed in this year’s January transfer window for roughly £37m. They have undoubtedly prospered at Anfield so far, though combined both still didn’t cost what it took to prise Nunez away from Benfica.
It’s fair to say that the Reds jumped in with both feet on Nunez, an all-or-nothing approach in a bid to implement the next stage of their evolution under Jurgen Klopp.
The Uruguayan is much different from what Liverpool have had in their front line previously. Firmino, who did most often feature within that number nine role, stands at 5ft11, has a low centre of gravity and is almost unrivalled when dropping into tight spaces inside the opposition’s half to link with others. He’s regularly been a facilitator rather than a goal-getter.
Nunez though is much different. He stands taller at 6ft2 and brings a lot more physicality to the Liverpool attack. He won’t engage as much as Fimrino in build-up play, however, he hurts opponents in different ways, particularly when he comes alive inside the penalty box. The 23-year-old is a danger in the air, has quick reactions and can hit a wicked strike at goal.
To maximise what he offers, Liverpool were always going to have to make adaptions this season, giving Nunez more freedom to steer clear of helping to contribute in possession, and instead allowing him to remain the consistent threat through the middle.
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The early signs suggest they’ve been doing just that. According to Opta, Nunez has had 59 touches in the Premier League this season, with 44 per cent of them coming in the penalty area (26). That’s the highest percentage of any player in Europe's big five leagues so far this season (min. 50 touches).
Liverpool’s decision to go so big on Nunez this season was always going to be a gamble. In years gone by, the Reds have managed to build an elite squad while not always investing the huge sums of money that their Premier League rivals had.
But when they have gone big, it’s usually been for players capable of having a transformational impact on the team, with Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson being two of the best examples.
It’s not yet clear whether Nunez will follow in the footsteps of those two in terms of going on to be a huge success, however, the above at least acts as evidence that Liverpool are doing all they can to give him the platform to do so.
