Anwar Ibrahim (Cairo)
Liverpool’s insistence on obtaining the services of the young Uruguayan star Darwin Nunez, the Benfica striker, did not come out of nowhere, but after a careful follow-up of his performance during the ending season, and more specifically during the two teams’ meeting in the Champions League, where German Jurgen Klopp expressed his great admiration for the player at the time and his position. Among his calculations regarding the deals of the new season, which aims to renew the blood of the Reds’ offensive line, which he started the season ending with the inclusion of the Portuguese Diego Jota, and after him the Colombian Luis Diaz.
It is one of the rare times that Liverpool opens its safes, and shows its willingness to pay one hundred million euros (80 million plus 20 million other additions), which is the highest number in the club’s history, and much more than what the Reds paid for the inclusion of Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (75 million pounds sterling).
Nunez, who will complete his 23rd year on June 26, looks like a perfectly suitable player for Liverpool, after he shone in the season ending with his club Benfica, which he joined for 24 million euros from Almeria “second class”, in 2020. Nunez’s star rose and rose quickly The rocket to the top of the European pyramid, after promising starts in his first club, Uruguayan Peñarol (17/2019).
Nunez needed some time to adapt to playing Benfica in his first season, and then his talent exploded in scoring in the following season, as he scored 34 goals in 41 games in various competitions in the ending season, bringing his total to 47 goals and 16 assists in 84 games for the Benfica Eagles in two seasons.
The defenses of the major European teams were not spared the danger of Nunez, his inconvenience and his threat to his goal, as he scored against Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and twice against Liverpool, back and forth, and had his team not been eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Champions League, he would have added more goals to his European tally.
Nunez is one of the type of players who are good at the big teams, what tempted German Jurgen Klopp to obtain his services, and his admiration increased for him, especially after he scored against the Reds twice, and Klopp’s opinion of Nunez was clear and frank and praised his strong performance and said: An excellent boy and a wonderful player.. Really, he’s very good, I know him before, but I knew him better when I met his team in the Champions League. He added, “He is very strong physically, fast and calm in finishing attacks, and if he stays like this, he will become one of the best strikers in the world.”
As for Van Dijk, he admired him so much that he mentioned him among the most dangerous strikers he faced during his career, “Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland… and Nunez”.
Nunez moves within the opponent’s penalty area with great flexibility, and his impressive length “187” helps him to decide with his strong right, left and head, whatever his situation inside the area, and he has proven a superior ability to score from different angles and situations, and his play perfectly suits Liverpool, and his inclusion was a vital requirement within the framework of a plan Renewing the offensive line pursued by Klopp, to reduce the average age of the attackers from 30 years (Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Firmino) to 25 years (Jota and Diaz), and therefore Nunez (23 years) represents the future of the Reds.
Nunez played for the youth and youth teams in Uruguay, and was promoted to the first team on October 16, 2019, under the leadership of coach Oscar Tabarez, and played 11 matches and scored two goals, and contributed to the qualification of his country to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The funny thing is that the Transfermarkt website has set its market value at only 55 million euros, but Benfica exaggerated its financial demands in order to achieve the maximum benefit from its sale, after touching Liverpool’s insistence on obtaining his services.
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