Jurgen Klopp has hailed the start Darwin Nunez has made to life at Liverpool following his £64m summer switch from Benfica.
After receiving peculiar criticism for failing to score during his first 60 mins for the Reds, across two friendly cameos against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, the Uruguayan bagged four goals on Thursday afternoon as Klopp's side ramped their pre-season preparations up with a 5-0 defeat of RB Leipzig.
The signing of the 23-year-old represented a new era for the football club alongside the sale of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich after six fruitful years on Merseyside. However, despite his impressive start, the German has called for patience for Nunez as he continues to adapt to his new surroundings.
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"He has fitted very well in. It’s a new club, everything is new. Liverpool is a big club, everything went pretty quick for Darwin in the last few years – his journey is an exciting one and he will make big steps with us, definitely." said Klopp while speaking to Liverpoolfc.com on Saturday.
"In the pre-season players should not play like they usually play because we train really hard, it would be kind of a bad sign that we are not working hard enough if players have the freshest legs ever in the training games.
"But in the same moment when you are a new player you get judged every day, everybody speaks about you. Everything is so hectic – I’m not sure if it is my age or whatever, it’s just too hectic for me. I always think, ‘Why are we judging people constantly that early?’ Not only footballers, in general.
"So, everything will be good. It will take time like it always takes time but it’s fine. I don’t think we know already the way it can go for him because it’s so fresh and he wants to really enjoy every day, but we have a lot of work to do and he has some work to do as well."
Liverpool's new No.27 showed early signs of a good relationship with Mohamed Salah, who recently penned a new three-year contract to remain at Anfield, during the fixture against the Bundesliga outfit as the Egyptian handed Nunez the opportunity to get off the mark for the Reds by handing him penalty responsibilities at the Red Bull Arena.
And according to Klopp, Salah is raring to get the campaign underway in two weeks' time as the Reds travel to West London to face Fulham, having ended the long-running contract saga that appeared to cloud the final weeks of the forwards' 2021/22 season as he struggled to reach the same heights he had enjoyed earlier in the campaign.
"He [Salah] looks like he always looks: sharp, top fit, full of desire for success and working extremely hard, coming back extremely fit," added Klopp. "I’m not sure Mo needs a pre-season, he could start the season immediately. He needs it for the rhythm and all these kind of things but not from a physical point of view.
"He just has a talent in this department but he is working extremely hard as well. So, I know Mo is very, very happy that we found an agreement [contract]. We were his club before he signed a new contract, now we are definitely his club and that feels pretty good."
Liverpool are currently residing in Austria for the European leg of their pre-season preparations, where they will face Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday before flying back to Merseyside for the Community Shield against Manchester City, which takes place on July 30.
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