Jurgen Klopp believes summer signing Darwin Nunez is "ready" for the Premier League - but has hinted the striker may have to wait for his first start in the competition.
Nunez, who arrived from Benfica for an initial £64million, made an impressive start to his Reds career when coming off the bench to win a penalty and then later score on his debut in the 3-1 Community Shield triumph over Manchester City last weekend.
Roberto Firmino started at the King Power Stadium having enjoyed an impressive pre-season after his previous campaign was hampered by injuries.
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And while praising the progress made by Nunez during his month at the club, Klopp has suggested the 23-year-old will again be on bench duty when Liverpool begin their top-flight season at Fulham on Saturday lunchtime.
“Darwin is ready, but does that mean he has to start? I don't know," said the Reds boss. "We have different options and that is what we will use and Darwin needs time to get used to a lot of things, but he is already a real help.
"It went really quick from the first (pre-season) game when I thought 'What are we doing with him?'. Not because of him but because of the passes we played for him. It was a proper pre-season training session for him and we gave him a lot of runs to do.
"He is completely settled. He said himself he was very nervous in the beginning and I sympathise with that a lot, it's normal. But he settled pretty quickly because all the players, not only the Spanish speakers, and that was very helpful and he feels at home after a short period.
"He had a real impact in the first final we could have played but the work will not stop and he is in the best possible place."
While Firmino is one of the Liverpool players to have taken Nunez under his wing and help him acclimatise, Klopp doesn't expect the new signing to begin replicating the contribution of the Brazilian.
“They are completely different players, they like each other and talk a lot," said the Reds boss. "They are both from South America, both offensive players, can play different positions – what can they learn?
"Before I arrived, people probably thought Bobby was not the player he is. He is an exceptional player, has his absolute own way of playing football. Imagine Bobby would try to play like Darwin or the other way around, a bit strange and not necessary. As a person, yes, but as a player I'm not sure."
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