Roy Keane has claimed Liverpool have already moved on from the departed Sadio Mane after Darwin Nunez scored a vital goal to help them to win the Community Shield.
Nunez was signed for a club-record fee earlier this summer as Mane left for Bayern Munich. There had been some concerns over the former Benfica star over the course of pre-season, but he shut the critics up with his display against Manchester City on Saturday.
The Uruguayan was introduced as substitute for Roberto Firmino just before the hour mark and took up position at the sharp end of the Reds' attack. He immediately looked up to speed, though did spurn a couple of chances to put Liverpool ahead.
With seven minutes to go though, he did show why the Reds spent close to £85million in total to bring him to Anfield. First, he won a penalty when his header hit the arm of Ruben Dias, with Mohamed Salah scoring from the resulting spot-kick.
And in the dying stages of normal time, he followed that up by scoring the Reds third with a header from close range. That performance left Reds fans delighted and also saw Keane fire a warning to the rest of the Premier League.
"I think when any player comes to the club, no matter the position, they want to settle. For the striker it’s about getting that first goal under your belt. He’s up and running. Who’s that, Mane? That’s the name of the game, people move on, you’ve got strikers coming in, young striker, hungry, you seen it there," Keane told ITV.
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"That’s the name of the game. The club’s recruitment, great start for the striker, gives them options, when you see these teams, the hunger and desire from both teams is fantastic. It’s been a good day for Liverpool.
"A new striker, good habits to get into winning, other teams might be sitting watching this thinking are these teams going to ease off? Not with Pep [Guardiola] and [Jurgen] Klopp in charge, the hunger and desire from both teams. Klopp got a big smile, looks refreshed, got a new contract - good luck stopping these teams."
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was also delighted with Nunez's display as he considers who will start in the Premier League opener against Fulham next week. The German was particularly pleased with his new striker's finishing as the Reds claimed the Community Shield.
"Yeah he’s good. Today we played the smartest passes, we need these balls from the side. In the first two games we passed in behind and after three runs in pre-season you are killed. We seen him in training, involved in all dangerous situations, opened the game for us but was there in the finishing moments as well - good game," he said.
"Two teams who are away from their best but what both teams made of what they had was incredible. I have to say all the subs came on and made a difference even if only for three or four minutes with Fabio or Curtis, they were involved and I loved it. The most important thing I learned today the boys are ready - good."
