Darwin Nunez could have ended up at Barcelona had the La Liga giants listened to one of their own players’ advice at the time whilst the Uruguayan was with Almeria.
Guti equally seemed surprised that the former Benfica star didn’t end up in the Spanish top-flight, with Liverpool snapping up the 34-goal star this summer in a £64m move.
“At the time, I was surprised that no Spanish club, after the good season he had at Almeria, did not look at him, and he went to Benfica,” the former Real Madrid star told El Chiringuito (via Sport Witness). “I think the Portuguese league has been good for him to make that leap to get a bit more experience and sign for Liverpool.”
The 22-year-old enjoyed a particularly prolific campaign with the Eagles, scoring twice against Liverpool across both legs of a Champions League quarter-final clash in and amongst 32 other efforts in 41 games (across all competitions).
Fans confident that the attacker will fire Liverpool to more silverware glory next term can enjoy a flutter or two online with the help of Bet Station, which can allow supporters to find the best Arizona sports betting sites.
Benfica are said to have taken something of a gamble on Nunez when snapping him up from Spain’s second-tier – a roll of the dice it’s fair to say paid dividends for the club.
On our end, of course, we at the Empire of the Kop would confidently argue that the £64m fee up front for the striker’s services suggest more than a degree of confidence from the Liverpool hierarchy in terms of the transfer working out.
That’s also without taking into account the player’s long-term contract, not set to expire until the summer of 2028, two years after Jurgen Klopp’s terms are set to run out.
There will be an acclimatisation period, of course, as is likewise expected for Manchester City’s big-money move for Erling Haaland, with both players representing a deviation from the norm as far as each outfit’s respective forward lines are concerned.
That being said, we’ll be hoping to see Nunez enjoy a similarly smooth transition to life in the English top-flight as his fellow former Primeira Liga star in Luis Diaz.
Get off to a quick start in a new-look front-three for Jurgen Klopp’s men next term and we’ve no doubt many will soon come to realise their mistake in not going all out for the Uruguayan international.