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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Paul Gorst

Liverpool stance on Darwin Nunez clear but inescapable feeling remains

Darwin Nunez Diogo Jota Jurgen Klopp Liverpool Mohamed Salah Thiago Ajax Benfica Crystal Palace Merseyside

Within seconds of his arrival, Liverpool fans had a message for Darwin Nunez on Tuesday evening.

Having been introduced around the hour mark as part of a double substitution by Jurgen Klopp as the Reds went in search of their winner against Ajax, Nunez was greeted with a quick serenading by the Kop as he stepped onto the Anfield turf for the first time since his sending off against Crystal Palace last month.

"Nunez! Nunez! Nunez!" they roared in a simple yet effective ode. All was forgiven, it seemed, after he became the first player to be sent off for violent conduct under Klopp's management on Merseyside.

The £64m striker may just feel that there is still some making up to do on his part, however. His scurrying, energetic cameo certainly revealed as much on Tuesday evening as the summer signing from Benfica went about trying to get the Reds back into a lead they had lost when Mohammed Kudus' well-struck leveller had cancelled out Mohamed Salah's opener in the first half.

Nunez charged about the pitch in an attempt to turn the tide but found quality and luck deserting him on the two occasions when it looked like he could have made a telling impact.

First, an unconvincing side-foot finish drifted wide of Remko Pasveer's goal after neat approach play from Firmino and Salah to set the chance up.

Moments later, after wriggling free of his marker at a tight angle, his drilled effort across the face was pushed away for a corner with Luis Diaz unfortunate not to tap home a rebound that would have seen much credit given to Nunez had it brought Liverpool's second.

That's generally how it has gone for the Uruguayan during his brief time on Merseyside. As the team continues to adapt and adjust to a significant switch in style up top, Nunez hasn't quite reached top speed.

The three games he spent kicking his heels on the sidelines through suspension have inevitably had a knock-on effect where that is concerned, but even when Nunez has shown the odd flash of his undoubted talent, there has been something denying him the breakthrough moment.

Like a stunning save from Jordan Pickford to keep out an arching snapshot in the Merseyside derby last week or the upright of the woodwork against Crystal Palace last month.

Of the 720 minutes played by Liverpool so far this season, Nunez has been on the pitch for just 228 of them. That is likely the key factor behind the inability to perform at the same sort of levels he showed last season during a 34-goal campaign at Benfica that made him one of the most in-demand strikers on the continent.

There will be no panic inside the corridors of power right now over Nunez's current situation. A five-year deal was signed only three months ago and having turned just 23 shortly after moving to Merseyside, the best is most certainly yet to come.

“Darwin didn’t play too many games yet with the sending off he got," says Diogo Jota. "In contrast Sadio Mane played for this team for a long period and was used to everything. It’s quite a big change but if we keep playing like this then it will be easier for Darwin and for everyone.”

But for all the calmness of thought around Nunez's fledgling weeks at Liverpool, there is an inescapable feeling that the early plan of integration into the team has veered some way off course.

That is as much likely down to the general malaise that has gripped the team as a collective this season rather than any individual failings of the No.27 himself but the loose touches need tightening and the rough edges need smoothing on his part.

The striker arrived to comparisons with Erling Haaland and an intense debate over just which of the Premier League's new big-money target men would score more goals. Just a few weeks into the campaign and the Manchester City forward's dozen haul has already consigned that debate to the past.

That will be of little consequence to those inside the club itself, but Nunez 's relative lack of minutes on the pitch has made it virtually impossible for him to showcase his own talents to the wider footballing public.

Patience might be the virtue needed now for all concerned around a player who could yet become the most expensive of all time at Anfield if his £21m worth of add-ons are unlocked.

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