Gary Neville believes that Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez will become world class amid his difficult start to life at the Anfield club.
Nunez joined Liverpool from Benfica in a deal worth a potential £85 million. So far, he has scored nine times in 20 appearances for the Reds.
Despite a more than reasonable goal return, many fans have been critical of Nunez for wasting many chances, like he did against Aston Villa and Leicester in Liverpool’s last two Premier League matches.
The Uruguayan started up top against the Foxes at Anfield and was an absolute handful as he caused chaos, but ultimately he failed to show the composure needed to find the back of the bet.
Former Manchester United defender Neville still believes that Nunez will eventually become world class.
He said on Sky Sports: “When he cut across (Wout) Faes, that was devastating. It’s a fine line: he’s a handful if he doesn’t score the goals he needs to score, if he scores the goals, he’s world class. I’ve got a feeling he could end up being that world-class striker, in a year or two.
“I’m 70 per cent that he’s going to go on to become a top striker in this league and become one of the very best in the world.”
Fellow pundit Jamie Carragher who branded Nunez as ‘captain chaos’ during commentary added: “He’s causing huge problems for the opposition, involved in goals rather than scoring them, but the next thing is he’s got to get the goals.
“He’ll be disappointed tonight he hasn’t got himself on the scoresheet. At the moment he’s a handful but to make that next step, to be a world-class striker he’s got to get more goals.”
Liverpool will be back in Premier League action on Monday as they travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to take on Brentford.
New signing Cody Gakpo is unlikely to be involved and should make his Liverpool debut against Wolves in the FA Cup next weekend.
Darwin Nunez puts in most chaotic performance yet, as Liverpool beat Aston Villa
Darwin Nunez provided one of the most chaotic performances of the season so far, as Liverpool beat Aston Villa on their return to the Premier League.
Ever since Nunez joined the Reds in the summer, no one has really been able to get their heads around the Uruguayan, who has mixed the sublime with the ridiculous.
He scored one of the worst penalties you’re likely to see, as Liverpool warmed up for the return of domestic action recently, which rather summed up his time in England to date.
Even Manchester United legend Andrew Cole didn’t want to be compared to the former Benfica star, sharing the stats which proved the comparison was disrespectful.
On Monday evening, Nunez started as Liverpool restarted their league campaign with a tricky tie away to Unai Emery’s Villa.
Klopp’s side ended with a 3-1 victory, thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic, with Nunez managing to miss a smorgasbord of chances.
Despite those misses, he earned the player of the match award for being a nuisance to the Villa defence and even set up the third goal.
His run and shot eventually fell to Bajectic, who put the ball past Robert Olsen, and after the game fans once again felt the forward was completely chaotic.
“Feel like Darwin Núñez plays like how it would look if Man Utd had signed Usain Bolt,” one fan said.
“The world would be a duller place without Darwin Nunez,” a second added.
A third jokingly imagined what goes on in the forward’s brain, saying, “There are voices in Darwin Nunez’s head that pipe up every time he’s through on goal.”
A fourth summed it up, tweeting, “Darwin Nunez can’t be real, he’s like a footballer written by AI or something, displays no human qualities whatsoever just pure chaos.”
“I don’t normally do this, but figured I’d share my list of the best shows of 2022: 1) Darwin Nunez,” another perfectly pinpointing the Uruguayan’s entertainment factor said.
“He was phenomenal I tell you. Missing such chances as a striker is never an easy task. Kudos Nunez!” another opined.
One asked Specsavers if they could check Amazon’s eyesight, after co-commentator Andy Townsend gave the Reds striker his award.
The 23-year-old could cost Liverpool upto €100 million by the time they’ve paid off all of clauses in his deal, and was essentially a replacement for Sadio Mane, who left for Bayern Munich in the summer.
Despite criticism of the striker, he has scored five goals already this season, despite the fact that he missed three games following a red card for a headbutt against Crystal Palace.
If he managed to be less chaotic with his finishing then he’ll certainly be a huge threat, as the Reds attempt to get involved in the title race.
Source: sportbible.com
