Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez has been named the 2021/22 Primeira Liga Player of the Year after an outstanding season for Benfica.
The 23-year-old scored an impressive 26 goals in 28 top-flight appearances as well as providing four assists for his team-mates. Despite Benfica ending the campaign 17 points behind title winners Porto, Nunez's individual efforts have been recognised with the award.
Luis Diaz could well have ended up with this accolade had he remained with Porto for the remainder of the season, having scored 14 goals and contributed five assists in 18 appearances prior to joining Liverpool during the January transfer window.
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Nunez has now become the second successive Uruguayan player to be named the standout performer in the Portuguese top-flight, following in the footsteps of ex-Reds defender Sebastian Coates. The 31-year-old centre-back was part of a Sporting Lisbon side who conceded just 20 goals in 34 league outings and lost only one league fixture during the 2020/21 season, ending the club's 19-year title wait.
Excitement is now growing over Nunez as the new Premier League season edges closer - and even members of Jurgen Klopp's first-team Liverpool squad are eagerly awaiting the towering forward's first outing for the club. Discussing what he is expecting of Nunez, who made a potentially club record move from Benfica last month, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain told liverpoolfc.com : "I think obviously Darwin, we played against and saw him first hand and I think everything that we saw in those games… he reminded me a little bit of Luis [Diaz] when we played against him when he was at Porto.
"He’s that sort of a player that you know what you are going to get from – the athleticism, the speed, the strength, the power – and it was the same with him. I remember having to chase Luis back at Anfield at one point and he made me stick it into fifth gear and then try to find sixth to keep up with him! You sort of remember those things and when he walked through the door that was the first thing I remembered – don’t try to get in a race with him if I’m expecting to win!
"I think Darwin would be the same. I think Virgil said first hand and Ibou said as well how quick and strong he was. I think he had that confidence and swagger about him as well and I think as a striker, as a forward player, you sort of need to have that confidence to go and do good things and lead the team from up there."
The Reds returned to the AXA Training Centre on Monday to begin preparations for the new season. But Nunez is one of 11 players who have been given extra time off after representing their countries earlier this summer. He will join up with his new-mates later this week ahead of the tour of the Far East.
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