Back in June, Liverpool completed the £85m signing of Darwin Nunez from Benfica, although they also had a look at his teammate Rafa Silva.
According to The Athletic, Jürgen Klopp was left impressed by the £13.8m man’s performances for the Portuguese giants, but the Reds still decided to push on with a deal for Nunez, leaving Silva in Portugal.
Now, despite plenty of improvement from the Uruguay international on Merseyside, the Benfica No.27 is on fire.
Rafa Silva shining after Liverpool ignored him
Well, it could have been Silva at Anfield instead of Nunez, and the Portugal international has definitely responded well to that snub.
Last night, the 29-year-old scored twice against Juventus to give Benfica a 4-3 win in the Champions League, knocking the Old Lady out of the Group Stage, while also guaranteeing his side a place in the Round of 16.
Silva’s first goal against the Italian giants was a delightful backheeled flick, from a cross which came in with some pace on it from Joao Mario.
In truth, he did well to get any kind of solid contact on the ball, let alone a touch like that.
Silva then put Benfica into a commanding 4-1 lead with a delicate dink over Wojciech Szczęsny.
The Portuguese marksman now has nine goals and five assists to his name in 18 appearances so far this season, which is an excellent return.
In contrast, Nunez has five goals in 12 outings for Liverpool.
Liverpool should’ve signed Silva & Nunez
In our view, Liverpool should have tried to sign Silva in addition to Nunez.
The latter was Klopp’s replacement for Sadio Mane, but strangely, the Reds didn’t feel the need to replace Divock Origi or Takumi Minamino, both of whom played vital squad roles at Anfield.
Now, Liverpool are severely lacking in attacking depth, so perhaps a move for Silva in addition to Nunez wouldn’t have gone amiss.
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