Darwin Nunez has answered the transfer "question" that was posed about him ahead of Liverpool 's thrilling win on aggregate over Benfica.
The Primeira Liga giants travelled to Anfield on Wednesday for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash. Benfica were two goals down from the first leg and required a miracle to book a surprise place in the semi-finals.
Much of their hope was pinned on Nunez, who has attracted a large amount of his interest following his performances this season. The 22-year-old started up-front for Nélson Veríssimo's side on Wednesday, fresh from scoring a hat-trick against Belenenses on Saturday.
Those goals meant he had hit the back of the net 31 times in 36 appearances in all competitions this season. But former Liverpool hero Peter Crouch had still been left with 'questions' about the Uruguayan ahead of Wednesday's clash.
"He certainly is the one to watch in this side, Rafa Silva will be a huge miss because he creates so much for Darwin Nunez, but there has been big noises about him for a while and he has delivered. He has got 31 goals this season and he’s banging them in," Crouch told BT Sport.
"He’s big, he’s strong, but he is also quick and mobile and he has scored a lot of big goals against some big teams in the Champions League so I think, the question always is if you score a lot of goals in Portugal, can you replicate it."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Which club would be the best for Darwin Nunez to join in the summer? Comment below.
Former Real Madrid hero Steve McManaman agreed with Crouch's analysis. While he insisted that he believes Nunez will move on from the Estadio da Luz this summer, the Benfica star is far from the finished article.
"I think he will move on, no disrespect to the Portuguese league and Benfica, but they will probably look to sell him. He’s almost a rough diamond, there is still a lot to work on and a lot to improve on, but his movement is excellent. There is a lot to like about him but he is nowhere near the finished article yet," McManaman said.
But Nunez hit back at those doubts with an impressive display at Anfield as his side made a game of the tie. Things started badly for the visitors though when Ibrahima Konate headed in from Kostas Tsmimikas' corner.
Benfica equalised thanks to Goncalo Ramos, before Roberto Firmino scored twice in the second-half to put Liverpool back in full control. Roman Yaremchuk then made the game interesting again when he broke through to finish past Alisson.
This is where Nunez stepped up to showcase his full potential to any interested suitors watching on. First, with nine minutes remaining he raced onto a long ball forward before opening his body up and curling in.
He almost cut Liverpool's aggregate lead to a single goal just over a minute later when he was left unmarked at the back post. Nunez almost took full advantage of that defensive mishap, but saw his superb volley saved down low by Alisson.
He thought he had doubled his tally at the death when he turned in Alex Grimaldo's cross, but looked up to see the assistant's flag raised. Even so, his attempts to drag Benfica back into the tie proved that Crouch and McMananaman's doubts were wide of the mark.
