Darwin Nunez says he has been able to overcome his early jitters at Liverpool thanks to the help of Mohamed Salah.
Uruguay forward Nunez scored in the Community Shield win over Manchester City and then on his Premier League bow after coming on as a substitute at Fulham, but after receiving a straight red card on his first Reds start against Crystal Palace he admits he found his new environment difficult.
The 23-year-old then returned with five goalless appearances, although only two of those were starts, as he found his performances mocked by football fans who are sceptical of Liverpool's decision to shell out what could become a club record transfer fee on the forward.
However he has now scored three goals on his last three starts for the Reds, and he says that Salah has been a huge help in restoring his confidence.
"Salah is an excellent player and an excellent person," Nunez told ESPN Uruguay.
"When I arrived in the pre-season I was talking to him, we had Fabinho as a translator. In those first games I was very nervous, I had arrived without training, and things didn't work out for me.
"Then Mohamed called me to talk, he told me that I had to be calm because I was new, that I was just adapting to the club.
“He told me that he also went through that moment, that when he arrived in 2017 he did not know English, and he told me that I was going to learn it, that now I should be calm, that I should do what I did at Benfica, that my potential was important for the team and that I had his support and that of the captains."
Nunez scored in recent starts against Arsenal, Rangers and West Ham, and after missing the weekend defeat at Nottingham Forest he is set to return to the starting lineup for Wednesday's Champions League trip to Ajax, where he is set to start alongside Salah.
Another player who has caught the forward's eye during his first few weeks at Liverpool is Virgil van Dijk, who Nunez says is tough to face in training.
“Van Dijk is a monster, sometimes I get hot (angry) because I can't pass him in training, he puts an arm in me and takes me out," he said.
"He is a very important piece for Liverpool, and he is also a reference, he is always talking to everyone, he is very funny and it is good that there are people like that in the dressing room.
“It's very difficult to beat him heads-up. I also thank him because when he was interviewed (after Liverpool beat Benfica last season) he said that it had been very difficult to mark me; I admire him a lot as a player and as a person."
