Darren Bent has backed one Liverpool player to ‘come good’ next season and implored the club not to cash in on the man in question this summer.
The future of Darwin Nunez has come under the spotlight in recent days after he deleted all of his Reds-related photos from Instagram and was subsequently pictured with Barcelona defender (and Uruguay teammate) Ronald Araujo.
However, speaking on talkSPORT (7 May, 16:43), the former Tottenham striker came out in defence of the 24-year-old, who’s had to face a barrage of criticism from many pundits in this country.
Bent stated: “I really like him. I think he makes good runs. I know sometimes he is offside, but power. If I was a centre-half, I wouldn’t want to play against him.”
When asked if Liverpool should sell Nunez if an enticing offer is made for him over the summer, the pundit replied: “I would give him another year, I really would. I think he will come good, I really do.”
There’s no doubt that Nunez can be a frustrating player to watch, with the Uruguayan all too often being caught needlessly offside, missing chances you’d expect him to score and taking the wrong option in the final third.
However, his tally of 33 goals across his first two seasons at Liverpool is no disgrace, and that haul includes some majestic finishes (think back to the volley against West Ham last autumn) and the occasional last-minute winner (Newcastle and Nottingham Forest know all about that!).
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For anyone who thinks the Reds ought to part with the 24-year-old this summer, it’s worth considering that he’s one of just five senior forwards at Anfield, and that had briefly been reduced to three a few weeks ago due to injuries.
The current squad depth, and the multitude of injury problems we’ve seen at the club over the 2023/24 campaign, should serve as a warning when it comes to any decision on whether to keep or sell players during the off-season.
We agree with Bent – Nunez absolutely deserves at least one more year to truly come of age at Liverpool.