John Barnes has backed Darwin Nunez to meet the demands at Liverpool and believes the new striker will give Jurgen Klopp an added attacking dimension this season.
Nunez joined from Benfica last month in a deal worth an initial £64m, but he could become the most expensive player of all time at Anfield if his £21m worth of add-on clauses are met.
The 23-year-old scored four times in Thursday's 5-0 hammering of RB Leipzig after coming off the substitutes' bench at half time to wreak havoc at the Red Bull Arena in Germany.
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Barnes believes Nunez will be able to cope with the pressure of performing at a club the size of Liverpool and thinks his aerial prowess will allow the Reds to have an additional weapon in their attacking arsenal when the new campaign gets underway next month.
The legendary Barnes told the ECHO: "It's always a big step up, it was a big step up coming from Leipzig (Ibrahima Konate and Naby Keita) or from Roma for Mo Salah, so it's another big step up for Nunez, but look, he's a quality player and of course Liverpool do their homework on recruitment so they know he will add value to us.
"I think he will be a big threat on crosses into the box, we've not really had that in recent years. Of course we've scored a lot of goals so we've not really missed it and of course Sadio Mane scored the odd header but he will give us that focal point, so I am excited about Nunez.
"But he is coming to be part of a team, he's not coming here to set the world alight and be our main player, that's not how Liverpool play, so I am sure he will do well."
Barnes is also tipping Luis Diaz to continue his impressive form shown since he joined the club from Porto in January. The Colombia international gave the squad some fresh impetus for the second half of the campaign as they went closer than any team before them to winning the quadruple.
Diaz was outstanding in both domestic cup victories over Chelsea and while Barnes believes it will be difficult to improve on the performances displayed last term, he thinks the ex-Porto winger has the consistency to show it across the course of an entire season in Liverpool colours.
"He's hit the ground running already!" he added. "I can't see him improving because he was fantastic. If he improves he's going to be a Messi or a Ronaldo type of player. So he can be consistent, but it helps when you're playing in a consistent team. It's harder for a player to come into a team that is not consistent as we've seen in the past, not just at Liverpool but at places like Manchester United as well.
"So no matter how good you are, you have to come to an environment that is settled before you can truly show what you can do. So this is an environment where the harmony is good, the consistency is good so you can show what you do and I am sure Nunez will do the same. We may miss Sadio Mane but I don't think it will change how much we play.
"Obviously we kept Mo Salah which is great news and we still have Roberto Firmino and the majority of everyone else, so I am confident for the new season.
"Think about it three years ago, they ask how they can improve on that? And two years ago and then last year, what do we expect from Liverpool? It's a season of consistency. And that is not to say they are going to win four trophies or maybe not even one, but what it will mean is at the end of the season, they will be in with a shout of winning all you can, which is all you can ask.
"Liverpool could have won four trophies and 'only' got two. I am not disappointed, they only lost three games all season, you can't get much better than that, can you? In fact, it won't get better than that. Liverpool can win three trophies next year and not have as good a season [statistically].
"So what we know is Liverpool are good enough and consistent enough to win football matches and come the end of the season they will be there or thereabouts. In cup matches, you can never tell because they are one-off games.
"You can play well and lose 1-0 so talk of a 'good cup run' you just don't know, but in the league, the consistency they show means they will be right up there at the end of the season."
The Reds kick off their season on August 6 in the Saturday lunchtime slot away at Fulham.
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