A former coach of Darwin Nunez has explained how the Liverpool striker was able to 'loosen up' at Benfica, helping the Uruguayan to get his big move to Anfield.
And ex-Eagles caretaker manager Nelson Verissimo also revealed how one of the 23-year-old's old team-mates provided the perfect foil to allow Nunez to rack up the goals last season.
The forward found the net 34 times in 41 matches for Benfica during the 2021-22 campaign, bringing him to the attention of a host of top clubs. Since moving to Anfield, he has found goalscoring tougher in England, but still has 14 to his name in all competitions this season.
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Speaking in a recent interview with A Bola, Verissimo detailed how a relaxed Nunez was able to play his best game in front of goal in Portugal, something that didn't go unnoticed when Liverpool came up against Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals last year.
Verissimo said: “Darwin is a rebellious young player… rebellious in the sense of what he puts on the pitch, of how he likes to play his game.
“It’s true that with us he loosened up more and scored many goals, but he also had them before. What we tried to do, knowing that in many moments defensively he wasn’t as connected to the team, was giving him freedom at the front, in what he liked to do and I think that allowed him to let go. The game he played against Liverpool turned out to be decisive for his transfer.”
The Reds would advance to the semi-final stage after beating Benfica 6-4 on aggregate, but Nunez would score in both legs. It was enough to convince Jurgen Klopp to bring the 6ft 2 frontman to Liverpool in a bumper deal that was worth an initial £64m. Nunez has gone on to team up with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, but Verissimo has also revealed how Benfica strike-partner Gonçalo Ramos was able to get the very best out of him.
Verissimo added: “It’s in plain sight. He’s (Ramos) a player with a lot of quality and he scores. Anyone who knows him well since he was young, since the academy, knows that he always scored and is very supportive of the team, and that happened last season, he ran for him and for Darwin in a defensive process and that caused him to wear himself out, but it’s always been that way. He’s a player who knows how to be on the pitch.”
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