Jurgen Klopp pushed for Liverpool to sign Darwin Nunez rather than the 26-year-old attacker the Reds’ recruitment team actually recommended.
Darwin Nunez is coming in for criticism after Liverpool suffered another big blow to their Premier League title hopes, with the Reds losing the Merseyside derby on Wednesday.
Nunez threw away a golden chance while Liverpool were 1-0 down, and it was a similar story in the recent loss to Crystal Palace when the Uruguayan firing a shot straight at Dean Henderson from close range.
The 24-year-old has definitely shown glimpses of his quality during his time at Anfield, scoring 33 goals in 92 games in all competitions. But when you consider that the Reds spent £85 million on the striker, it is definitely fair to say that he is yet to fully vindicate Jurgen Klopp‘s faith.
Liverpool recruitment team recommended signing £51m forward rather than Darwin Nunez
Interestingly, it appears that Klopp put his foot down in deciding that Liverpool should pursue a deal for Nunez in 2022.
According to a report from The Times, Klopp pushed for Liverpool to sign Nunez, when the club’s recruitment team were suggesting that Christopher Nkunku would be a better option.
Nkunku, of course, would sign for Chelsea one year later in a £51 million deal, but the Frenchman has had a nightmare first year at Stamford Bridge, missing most of the campaign due to injury.
He did score 16 goals in just 25 Bundesliga games during his final year at RB Leipzig, while he got to 20 goals in the top-flight the year before.
Jurgen Klopp still vindicated so far
Nunez has not been perfect at Liverpool by any means, but Klopp may feel that he still made the right call in pushing to sign him from Benfica rather than going after Nkunku.
Unfortunately, Nkunku had had one serious injury during his time at Leipzig, and he has been desperately unlucky since moving to the Premier League.
But it will be interesting to see who ends up feeling like they got the better deal, with Nunez once again facing criticism for not being the ruthless goalscorer Liverpool now need.
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