To the astonishment of some, Darwin Nunez has overcome scathing criticism to establish himself as one of the Premier League’s most entertaining forwards.
Some questioned Nunez’s ability to play at the level needed to support his exorbitant price tag when he was first signed.
A sum that might exceed £85 million for the Uruguayan’s signing with the team is contingent on performance-related bonuses.
But his performance this season has undoubtedly put the doubters to rest.
Darwin Nunez is performing at his peak for Liverpool this year.
Nunez managed to score 15 goals in his debut season at Liverpool despite receiving criticism for his sluggish start.
Nunez has been scoring once every 106 minutes on average, which places him among the Premier League’s most productive strikers. To put this in perspective.
This scoring record is impressive, especially in light of the poor midfield performance from the previous campaign. Despite playing at times with virtually little help, he still managed to contribute to 19 goals in all competitions.
Nunez has actually highlighted each hiccup with joy, goals, and passion despite shifting strategies and roster changes for Liverpool.
He is excelling this season in midfield thanks to players like Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister.
Along with his goals, Ezoic Nunez has shown a persistent work ethic, assimilated into Liverpool’s high-press system, and improved all aspects of his game under Jurgen Klopp.
What else could Nunez do to get better?
Nunez only needs to keep working hard in the gym and paying attention to his coaches if he wants to keep improving at the rate he is now.
Pep Lijnders, Liverpool’s assistant coach, described the 24-year-old’s dramatic turn around in form prior to his team’s 3-1 Carabao Cup victory over Leicester City.
“Compliments to Darwin, the fans love him. He has this extreme mentality to run and fight and arrive in positions no-one thinks he can arrive.
“It’s nice to see him in the good moments, it’s nice to see him positive, starting games in a row back-to-back and you see immediately what this does to a player. He is a pure intuition player. He smells goals and he sees and he does.
“An intuition player like Darwin, he needs this kind of confidence. He speaks better English already, he invests a lot in himself. And it’s like every person everywhere, you need success, no? A player with confidence or without is just a different player. So it is important he is confident and he is training really really hard.”