Have Liverpool wasted a transfer with Darwin Nunez?
FT Desk
- 28 Aug 2022 12:37 BST
- 3 min read
Liverpool spent €100 million in signing Darwin Nunez from Benfica this summer, but while the Uruguayan was suspended for Saturday's meeting with Bournemouth, Roberto Firmino had a hand in five goals in a 9-0 win.
Firmino's contract expires at the end of the season, and Darwin was brought in with an eye on the future - understandably too, having plundered six goals from 10 Champions League games last season, including two against Liverpool.
But Jurgen Klopp's first instinct was to introduce him gently, even if he did come off the bench to score in the Community Shield win over Manchester City before repeating the trick in the opening day 2-2 draw at Fulham.
Darwin's evolution: pic.twitter.com/y0sNe5plBI
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Handed his home debut the next week, Darwin seemed overawed by the Anfield crowd, was easily handled by Joachim Andersen, and was sent off less than an hour in after headbutting the Danish defender out of sheer frustration.
"He knows that now himself [that he let his teammates down]," said Klopp at the time. "I will talk to him. It makes no sense when I talk now too much about it in public. You see it. It's absolutely not the reaction you want to see.
Darwin's evolution
"The challenge from the centre-half - they will do that to him. They want to have him. He's a handful himself. That's not the reaction."
Also suspended to the 2-1 loss to Manchester United, the Uruguay striker will now only return for the Merseyside derby against Everton on 3 September at the earliest - if Liverpool even need him to.
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Firmino is a fine influence on this Liverpool side, both on and off the pitch, and we are at least a generation on from a player's career being finished soon after hitting 30. Klopp continues to appreciate the Brazilian, too.
"Bobby is crucial for us, the heart and soul of this team," Klopp said after his superlative Bournemouth performance. "The way we played in the last years was only possible because of Bobby."
Darwin may be seven years Firmino's junior and have a high ceiling in terms of his potential ability, but €100m for a player who may have to sit and watch - and learn - for now, is a heck of a lot of money.
