Barcelona may very well be rueing a missed opportunity should Liverpool complete a £64m deal for Darwin Nunez today.
Former Reds striker Luis Suarez had advised the Catalan giants to sign the 22-year-old during his Almeria days but the La Liga-based outfit was apparently reluctant due to his young age.
“When [Nunez] was at Almeria, I told Barcelona about him,” the Uruguayan was quoted as having told Gerard Romero by GOAL.
“They asked me and I said, ‘Keep an eye on this one, he’s got something interesting about him…’ But they replied ‘No, he’s in Almeria, he’s too young.
“But instead of now having to pay £80m, £90m or £100m, they would have paid £15m or £20m for him back then.”
The ex-Penarol striker amassed an impressive total of 34 goals in 41 games (across all competitions) last term, attracting the interest of a host of top clubs, including the Merseysiders’ bitter league rivals in Manchester United.
We’re somewhat grateful that Barcelona failed to capitalise on what would appear to be the sound advice of their former attacker, with a medical having reportedly progressed smoothly.
With Fabio Carvalho set to be utilised in the forward line, we’ll have six quality options available to rotate in the front-three when deemed necessary.
It does, however, highlight the need for more depth in the middle of the park, particularly with the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Thiago Alcantara all in their 30s (and Fabinho set to turn 29).
Ideally, we’ll see some movement in that space in the coming weeks after missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid.