No player in recent times sums up the modern consumption of football quite like Darwin Nunez. Certainly not at Liverpool, at least.
Before he had even kicked a ball competitively for the Reds, Nunez was having to silence his detractors following a move from Benfica 12 months ago for an initial £64m.
"Resiliencia" he posted on Twitter after coming off the bench to score four times in a pre-season friendly win over RB Leipzig. The message - which translates to 'resilience' in English - was sent following an emphatic second-half performance that came just days after he had found himself as the butt of the jokes from rivals fans after an ordinary showing in a defeat to Manchester United in Thailand.
The post at the time was seen as a clear riposte to those who had rushed to piece together the unflattering videos of Nunez in that loss to the Red Devils 11 months ago.
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"That's the best way obviously to stop all these discussions," said Klopp after the No.27's four-goal haul in a 5-0 win. "We always think that if you pay a lot of money then the players feel no pressure or whatever. They are all completely normal human beings and the first touch is not perfect then all of a sudden. This generation of players read social media, which is really not smart, but they do. All of a sudden you get in a rush and these kinds of things."
In many ways, those early days as a Liverpool player have come to encapsulate the first year of Nunez at Anfield. On the one hand, those who champion him see a striker of rare gifts. The raw, blistering pace; the confidence and ability to execute difficult shots with either foot; the impudence of some of his finishing.
There are also the goals to consider. Fifteen in total for his maiden campaign in English football and some in big games against the likes of Manchester United, Man City, Real Madrid and Arsenal.
Those who seek to tear down the Uruguay international however will see the loose touches, the rushed, wayward shooting and whatever that poorly executed sort-of-chip-finish was against Man City in October when Mohamed Salah was begging for a tap-in to make it 2-0 late on.
In the social media era, the shades of grey are more opaque than ever. The battle lines are drawn on every issue across the sport of football and whoever shouts loudest apparently wins. Nuanced, sensible debate is bankrupt.
And considering Nunez is a player who could yet become the most expensive of all time at Anfield, if the £21m worth of add-ons are unlocked, the striker was always going to be weaponised by both sides of a deeply entrenched argument.
But as Nunez celebrates his one-year anniversary as a Liverpool man this week, should the assessment be that the former Benfica striker is in fact somewhere in the vast, sprawling middle ground between being an awesome force of nature and cumbersome, expensive write-off?
Perhaps three things are counting against Nunez as he approaches his second pre-season with the Reds. First is the wildly contrasting style of player he is to what has preceded Klopp up top at Anfield.
If Nunez is the battering ram, Klopp prefers his strikers to be the locksmith when it comes to opening up the opposition. That, though, is probably the least of the issues going forward.
Nunez's strengths offer something of a unique option in Klopp's five-man frontline department for next season and a horses-for-courses approach will be needed across a long campaign that will see Liverpool aiming to wrestle back their Champions League status while trying to win the Europa League they did not want to find themselves in.
The smooth motor that is Cody Gakpo, however, is a more trusted operator at the top of the three-pronged attack than Nunez at present, as evidenced by the fact the Netherlands international was picked in nine of the last 12 Premier League fixtures last term as Nunez started just three. That is issue number two to contend with.
But the biggest concern, rightly or wrongly, is the price tag the striker came with when he joined last year. At £64m alone, Nunez finds himself as the third most expensive player of all time at Anfield behind Alisson Becker (£65m) and £75m Virgil van Dijk, who remains top of that list.
The wealth of add-ons centre around milestones such as success in both the Premier League and Champions League but club sources stressed last year they expect Nunez to at least reach the £75m sum through the achievable, appearance-based terms of that deal.
Nunez had no say in the figures agreed between Benfica and Liverpool 12 months ago but players are always judged by their fee, particularly when it is of a negative slant. The only way to avoid such discourse is to perform when given the opportunity to.
It's shaping up to be a major summer of further integration into Liverpool life for Nunez, who will celebrate his 24th birthday next week. Significant strides need to be seen in his linguistic skills, according to Klopp, while more attention to detail will be needed on the defensive side of his game at Anfield, which was another aspect the manager lamented last season.
But the raw minerals are there for him to become another transfer success story of the Klopp era. It's now up to him to turn his potential into reality.
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