“Luis Diaz was the best player in the Portuguese league and we got him. After he left, Darwin Nunez was the best player in the Portuguese league and we got him. He’ll be fine here.”
The Portuguese transfer market has served Liverpool well in recent years, with assistant manager Pep Lijnders’ faith in club-record signing Nunez ultimately proven justified during his first season at Anfield.
While the Uruguayan hasn’t quite enjoyed the same instant electric impact of the Colombian in what has been a difficult campaign for the Reds overall, a return of 15 goals is certainly respectable. Still only 23, the best is still to come.
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Prior to Nunez’s initial £64m switch to Liverpool last summer, Diaz had been snapped up in a £49m move from FC Porto the previous January. A serious knee injury might have limited his impact this year, but Kopites have already seen more than enough to be excited about the forward’s return to match fitness and form.
After signing Diaz, Jurgen Klopp paid tribute to Lijnders and elite development coach Vitor Matos, who had both previously worked at Porto, with the latter, having been at the club when the winger was signed from Junior de Barranquilla, for first alerting Liverpool to the Colombia international and helping engineer the switch to Anfield.
"We cannot watch all interesting players closely, me or the coaches; our scouts are doing that and that's what we have the department for," Klopp said. "Very often we just get a hint that we should have a closer look at him or him and we do that.
"That doesn't mean he's a player for us in the next transfer window but with Porto obviously it is different because of Pep and Vitor (Matos). I'm not sure but Vitor probably watches all Porto games and Pep a lot of them, and they were very early and told me, 'that's a very interesting boy there and we should have a closer look'. Since then we are watching him.
"It is part of the process. We cannot constantly watch the whole world but the club is pretty busy with that. If there's a good player or a real talent out there, we know him. We just have to make decisions on whether it is interesting for us or not, do we have somebody in that position or not, do we have someone coming up in that position, do we have a young player to follow on? All these kind of things. That's the process."
In stark contrast to the days when the likes of Geoff Twentyman and Tom Saunders would scour the UK for talent first-hand before altering Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan, it is normal for initial scouting to be done virtually these days. But Lijnders and Matos’ links to Porto and Portugal both aided Liverpool when it came to moving for Diaz.
Indeed, it was a similar story when the Reds signed Diogo Jota from Wolves. When the Reds were deliberating over a three-man attacking shortlist in the summer of 2020, it was Lijnders who spoke to trusted allies at Porto for a glowing reference on the forward, who eventually fought off competition from Ismaila Sarr and Jonathan David to join the club in a £45m deal.
Liverpool's number two spent eight years at Porto in his formative days as a coach and spoke to several at the biggest club in Portugal about Jota as interest started to gather pace behind the scenes.
"Through his contacts back in Portuguese football, Pep was given glowing references on the player's character and he believes [Jota] can become a difference maker within our framework over time," said one source at the time.
Meanwhile, with sporting director Julian Ward having his own close ties in Portugal and with Benfica, the Reds were also able to quickly complete a deal for Nunez, which could end up being worth a club-record £85m.
Ward might depart Liverpool this summer, but he is still manning the Reds’ summer transfer activity. As a result, maybe they could turn to Portugal once more? They’d be foolish not to given the nation’s recent track-record.
Portugal has certainly proven to be a growing market in recent years following the success of Cristinao Ronaldo, with the likes of Ederson, Jan Oblak, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Eder Militao and Bruno Fernandes moving on to flourish in major European leagues. Meanwhile, off the back of winning the World Cup, Enzo Fernandez has caught the eye in a poor Chelsea side since his British record £106.8m switch from Benfica last summer.
Liverpool had been heavily linked with the Argentine, ahead of a planned midfield revamp, but no move was forthcoming. How much of a knock-on effect such a fee had in the Reds being priced out of a move for fellow target Jude Bellingham, only club bosses would be able to answer definitively.
Yet a new midfield target may have just emerged in Primeira Liga, after it was reported that by O Jogo and CNN Portugal that Liverpool are now considering a move for Sporting Lisbon star Manuel Ugarte.
Such reports claim the Reds have initiated contact with Sporting over a potential move for their defensive midfielder, with the 22-year-old catching the eye in continental competition especially this season. Indeed, he is credited him with the most tackles in the Champions League (29) despite a group-stage exit, with only three players bettering his Europa League return (24) so far this season.
Given Fabinho’s flailing form this season, such stats alone are enough to make Kopites take notice as they ponder the possibility of Liverpool lining up Ugarte as the Brazilian’s long-term replacement. Throw in a reported £53.1m release clause and such a switch seems doable.
After all, the Reds are known to have been regularly scouting Sporting in recent years, with Matheus Nunes of interest prior to his switch to Wolves last summer. It has regularly been reported that Liverpool could rekindle their interest in the 24-year-old this summer, though recent suggestions also claim such interest might have cooled.
If the Reds do go back in for Nunes, he could become their latest Primeira Liga export. Yet regardless, such ongoing scouting in Portugal supports the possibility of Ugarte also catching the eye of Liverpool’s recruitment team.
An international team-mate of Nunez for Uruguay, the Reds already have one player who can offer a glowing endorsement of his compatriot’s talents. Meanwhile, Ugarte’s agent, Jorge Mendes, also boasts a great relationship with the Reds after previously brokering the deals for both the £64m striker and Jota.
And given Lijnders and Matos’ own ties to Portugal, the pair are likely to have given Liverpool the advanced nod on the midfielder’s talents, long before recent speculation. As a result, it ensures the Reds are better-placed than most to judge the 22-year-old’s talents from afar and be near the front of the queue if interested.
As a result, on paper a potential Liverpool move for the Uruguayan makes sense, with it clear how such speculation has materialised at least. But whether that all leads to Ugarte actually being part of the club’s midfield revamp this summer, with countless midfielders continue to be linked with moves to Anfield, only time will well.
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