Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho are pivotal to Liverpool 's future.
That's according to club legend John Barnes, who reckons Jurgen Klopp has already ushered in the next generation of Reds heroes. Barnes, who knows a thing or two about being a success at Anfield after enjoying 10 trophy-laden years on Merseyside until his departure in 1997, has made it clear to Klopp that he has four stars who can take on the mantle.
Nunez is certainly the most-talked about right now, having endured a rocky start to his Liverpool career. Sent off on his home debut after scoring two goals in his first couple of games, the 22-year-old striker still needs to find his feet following his eye-watering £68million transfer from Benfica in June.
Barnes has faith in Nunez, though, labelling his maiden term a "success" so far when speaking to BonusCodeBets. "He's for the future alongside Elliott and Carvalho and Diaz," the Reds icon affirmed. "We may not be doing as well as we did last year or the year before but I think moving forward we can get them playing that type of football again in the not-too-distant future.
"His start has been like Liverpool's because he came here with a big reputation and has great potential, good quality but he's playing in a Liverpool side that isn’t playing as consistently as they did so obviously the same will be of him.
"He got his red card and he's trying to adjust to a new country. He's young. If he was playing for Liverpool when they were winning every game and playing well he'd be scoring lots of goals. So I think in terms of where Liverpool are and what he's actually giving Liverpool, he's been a success."
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As for Elliott, Carvalho and Diaz, their campaigns have also seen mixed fortunes. While Elliott, who's still only 19, has established himself as regular starter during his sophomore season in the first team, Carvalho is yet to truly shine. That's understandable for a 20-year-old's first few months as part of a struggling side, which was plunged into further disarray when Diaz suffered a serious knee injury in early October.
The Colombian winger, who signed from Porto in January for £50m and made an electric start to life on Merseyside, will now be out until after the World Cup with a knee injury, and his absence has already been illustrated by Liverpool's lack of goals.
Klopp's men have managed just three strikes in their four Premier League fixtures since Diaz limped off against Arsenal, a moment which itself had ramifications on another damaging defeat for the Reds.
Klopp admitted after Saturday's 2-1 loss at home to Leeds that some members of his squad are now being "overplayed," claiming that Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino now have to feature "all the time."
"With the amount of games we have, maybe some players are a little bit overplayed," the German told Sky Sports.
"Harvey, who played exceptional for us this season, had a good start in the game but couldn’t keep going. Thiago [Alcantara] was ill last week, but not ill since two or three days anymore, so we think we’ll bring fresh legs in, think that makes sense. Up front they play now all the time, it's the three strikers we have left."
