Neil Jones has backed one Liverpool player to ‘go from strength to strength’ throughout the course of the season.
Darwin Nunez netted 15 goals in his first campaign at Anfield last term (Transfermarkt) but was still regularly criticised for the chances that he missed.
The bombastic Uruguayan is already on four goals and four assists from 11 matches so far in 2023/24 (Transfermarkt), a tally which looks all the more impressive when considering that he’s frequently had to try and make an impact from the substitutes’ bench.
In his latest column for Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, Jones said that the 24-year-old’s improvement over the last few months negates the need for another centre-forward such as the recently-linked Victor Osimhen to come in at Liverpool.
The journalist wrote: “Nunez’s development, in particular, has been a big positive this season. The Uruguayan has worked hard on the training ground, and looks far more in tune with what is required from him, on and off the ball, if he is to play regularly for Liverpool.
“He took the No.9 shirt in the summer, and has now become the main striker for his country, and I expect him to go from strength to strength as this season goes on. He, for sure, is the future at Anfield, and I would not expect to see Liverpool spending big money on a centre-forward any time soon.”
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Nunez has certainly looked a lot sharper since the start of the season and is contributing much more in terms of his overall play.
He’s taken just 11 matches to equal his assists tally from 42 games last term (Transfermarkt), while his relentless off-the-ball running proves very difficult for opposition defenders to combat, as was seen with his lung-bursting counterattack to tee up Mo Salah’s result-clinching goal against Everton last weekend.
At just 24, he’s probably just coming into the peak years of his career now, so it’s likely that we haven’t yet seen the best of him at Liverpool. Based on what he’s shown in recent weeks, just imagine how devastating he’ll be once he reaches his full potential!
Osimhen is a marvellous goalscorer who’s excelled in Serie A, but as Jones rightly pointed out, Jurgen Klopp also has Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota to call upon as centre-forward if needed, as well as Nunez.
As it stands, the Anfield transfer budget would surely be put to better use in other areas of the squad, perhaps on a truly reliable defensive midfielder or a versatile defender.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️