As anticipation sky-rockets ahead of the expected unveiling of Darwin Nunez as a Liverpool player, younger supporters may not be aware that the Uruguayan goal machine is not the first Nunez to have played for the club.
Should the 22-year-old's medical pass off without a hitch, the Reds will have captured one of Europe's top young strikers, further demonstrating their ability attract the best talent on offer across the continent, holding off the interest of their rivals. But the situation was a little different 18 years ago when Antonio Nunez came to Anfield.
The Spaniard joined new Reds manager Rafa Benitez's team from Real Madrid. But a Galactico he was arguably not. The deal came about not because of Liverpool's desire to sign the right-sided midfielder, but Madrid's concerted efforts to take Michael Owen, by now a Ballon d'Or winner, to the Bernabeu in the summer of 2004.
READ MORE: Sadio Mane exit cannot hide the truth about Darwin Nunez and Liverpool
READ MORE: Liverpool squad for 2022/23 predicted after £100m summer spend and four transfers
Having scored 158 goals in 297 appearances for the Reds, finishing seven consecutive seasons as the club's top scorer, you might have expected Owen to be prized away from Anfield for some sort of relatively astronomical fee. But Los Blancos president Florentino Perez was a man at the peak of his powers and had other ideas. Instead Real gave Liverpool £8million plus a player. That player wasn't Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raul, Luis Figo or Zinedine Zidane - Owen was off to play with all of them - it was Nunez.
Nunez had graduated into Madrid's main squad via their B team, for whom he made 64 appearances scoring 12 goals. When Carlos Queiroz handed him his first-team debut off the bench against Villarreal in 2003, he only took seven minutes to score in a 1-1 draw. It would be his only goal for the Spanish giants.
Used as makeweight in the Owen deal, he arrived at Anfield with very little known about him, but unfortunately he was soon acquainted with the club's medical staff. Nunez damaged his knee on his very first day in training and was sidelined for three months. He eventually made his Liverpool debut in a 2-1 victory against Arsenal in November 2004, when Neil Mellor would score a memorable injury time winner. Nunez would only make 17 more Premier League appearances with 10 of them off the bench.
He did manage make a start in the FA Cup third round, but the less said about that the better. Nunez was sent off in the 87th minute for elbowing Tony Grant after a comical own goal from Djimi Traore allowed Championship side Burnley to pull off a 1-0 cup upset. Despite this, Nunez would still have a hand in some cup moments before his short Anfield career was done.
Liverpool faced Chelsea in the League Cup final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The Blues would go on to win the match 3-2 in extra-time after the match finished 1-1 in 90 minutes, but it was Nunez who headed Liverpool's second goal late on, his only strike for the club.
Despite the odds of success being stacked against him, Nunez did play a role in helping the Reds reach the Champions League final. He was part of the side that came from behind to beat Olympiakos in the final group stage match, witnessing one of captain Steven Gerrard's finest moments in a red shirt.
The Spaniard played the final 16 minutes of Liverpool's 3-1 win away to Bayern Leverkusen before featuring in both legs against Juventus in the quarter-finals. He can also say that he was a late substitute in the Reds' nail-biting 1-0 semi-final triumph over new Premier League champions Chelsea - one of the greatest nights Anfield has ever witnessed.
Perhaps then he can count himself a touch unfortunate to have played no part in Liverpool's legendary Champions League final victory over AC Milan in Istanbul. But having made the bench, he would still leave Turkey with a European Cup winner's medal.
Being part of the supporting cast in the Miracle of Istanbul would be his final act in a red shirt. After one season his time on Merseyside was over. Nunez joined Celta Viga back in La Liga, where he would play regularly for three seasons, and then joined Real Murcia for a year in the Spanish second division. Three years with Cyrpriot side Apollon Limassol followed, before returning to his native Spain to play for first Huesca and then Deportivo de La Coruna - again both in the second division. A short spell with Recreativo followed and then it was time to hang up his boots.
The pending arrival of Darwin Nunez will be greeted with far greater fanfare and significantly higher expectations, but if the exciting striker who blazed a trail for Benfica wants to the match the Anfield medal haul of namesake Antonio, he will have to win the Champions League under Jurgen Klopp first. Over to you, Darwin...
