Jurgen Klopp has explained how his new-look Liverpool will aim to get the best out of £64m Darwin Nunez as he opened up on the secrets behind the recruitment success of recent years.
And Klopp also believes the difference in styles between Nunez and Roberto Firmino as a centre-forward will allow the Reds to be even more unpredictable this coming campaign as he hinted at a shift in tactical thinking behind the scenes.
Nunez was recruited last month from Benfica after it became clear that Sadio Mane was seeking a fresh challenge and the deal with the Portuguese side could see the Uruguay striker become the most expensive player of all time at Anfield, should the performance-related add-ons reach the £85m sum.
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The 23-year-old made his debut as a second-half substitute in Tuesday's 4-0 friendly defeat to Manchester United in Bangkok and is expected to play a part on Saturday when the Reds meet Crystal Palace in Singapore.
The target man's natural way of playing means there will be a tweak in how Liverpool operate in the final third, says Klopp, who also suggested his options give him the opportunity to "change the dynamics on the pitch" this term.
"We knew he was an interesting player but we didn't think about signing him and there were no talks [during the Champions League quarter-final with Benfica]," Klopp said. "He was on the list of players and we have this Portuguese department who watch each game even though they struggle a little bit to watch the Benfica games because they are both from the blue side of Porto, but it was clear he was really good.
"But you don't just go for a player like this just to add on. It was clear we needed to take a look and it's not that we had a lack of numbers or qualities, but it was a moment it was clear we had to intensify the interest and that is what we did.
“I know what we can use immediately with Darwin and then we have to see what we can use from there. He is a No.9 who can play on the wing. If you compare with Sadio, he was a winger who could play as the No.9.
"That is the difference. We have Luis Diaz and Fabio Carvalho for the left wing as well, Bobby (Firmino) who is 100% back when you see training. It is like ‘wow’ he is definitely back. Mo Salah will be here a long time and we have Harvey Elliott, so we have so many different, interesting options. That is what I like.
"We did not lose only Sadio. We lost Divock Origi and Taki Minamino and we all know that without those two boys we would not have won a cup competition last year. It makes sense after a while, as much as we miss Sadio, Div and Taki - that you need to refresh your efforts and the way you play.
"It always depends on the quality of the player. They have different qualities. What can we do? I have an idea, but I am really open to what the boys offer. We could play with a settled formation or use options to change the dynamics on the pitch.
"There is no decision made yet. I know whatever I can know about Darwin and I think I know what we can use immediately and then we will have to see how we go from there. He's a No.9 who can play on the wing. If you compare with Sadio, he was a winger who could play in the No.9, since last year, so that's the difference.
"We have a settled formation if you want and everyone knows how it is like this, but we have some real options to change the dynamics on the pitch and I think that makes sense for us."
Liverpool's exhaustive approach to their scouting and recruitment has enabled them to ensure that very few mistakes have been made in the transfer market under Klopp. The Reds are known to combine modern data analysis techniques of their respected research department with the more traditional model of player assessment to minimise the risk of signing a player ill-suited to the pressures of performing at Anfield.
The £37m deal for Luis Diaz that was struck in January appears to be the latest in a long line of transfer successes and Klopp explained what it is that makes the club so prolific when it comes to player trades.
He added: "I really hope it is the case with Darwin as well and we are really positive about that, but we still have to prove it. We know exactly what we need and exactly what we want, we don't shoot [for] a player out there and go for [him] just because other teams want him. We have our clear ideas.
"In the last few years you have to say more often than not we got the player we wanted and that's the truth as well. They were not always first picks or choices [or everyone else] and sometimes [people] say 'why him?'.
"I think with Darwin it was kind of clear and everyone agrees he is a pretty good striker but it's just how we do it. We don't go for the fancy stuff. We want to go for the right stuff for us and I think as well, because of one part of the quality and the other is character.
"The character has to fit our way of playing. And in that moment when you buy into the way we play, you immediately get the benefit of how we play. For offensive players, it's pretty cool if you win the ball back up high and you don't have to run back 80 yards and try to catch the ball and then 80 yards the other direction. These things all help and that is why it works and that is why I hope it will work again.
"I think [Nunez can settle] as quickly as Luis. Luis had no pre-season, Luis just stepped in, I don’t know, Monday and played Saturday and it was all good, all ready. The reason was Luis, the way he played at Porto was the way we wanted him to play here so it was not that we give him the script book and say have a look at that, we just let him play and then just adjust here and there a little bit.
"That is pretty much how it is with Darwin. We don’t want to change Darwin in a week or two or three. Do I want Darwin playing like Bobby Firmino in the same position? No, not at all. It makes no sense. We are talking about a false nine and a nine. That is the difference. We have to adapt a bit around and if it will be in the first Premier League game or the second or the third or the fourth, I couldn’t care less.
"There is always a public discussion if we would have to do it and I hope we don’t have to, because that would mean we have a lot of injuries, then we can just work on it and we will do and we will see in training how quickly that will go.
"That will make us completely difficult to analyse before the game, it would be a massive difference between him or him playing the position in the game, that is now really different.
"That is what I like about it. It will be really interesting. We had two or three or four years where it was always clear before the pre-season we started up front with Sadio, Bobby and Mo. Now the door is open for pretty much everybody. That is what we have to use.
"That is what we try to use, not this other pressure of we have to do this. We have enough games that they all will play but it is about how we can bring ourselves, all of us, in the situation that we make the extra yard which an amount of joy is pretty much not imaginable and that is what I am really looking forward to."
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