A reported Arsenal target certainly did the business against Liverpool tonight.
Liverpool eliminated Darwin Nunez and Benfica from the Champions League at Anfield during a fascinating 3-3 draw on Merseyside.
The Reds sealed their progress into the semi-final phase with a 6-4 aggregate victory.
Earlier on the Wednesday, it was reported by Fabrizio Romano that Nunez will definitely be leaving the Portuguese outfit for £66 million, amid speculation of Arsenal already being in talks to sign him.
And the Uruguay international definitely would’ve endeared himself to those on the red half of the North London divide.
Nunez impressed in a major way and scored one of the visitors’ three goals.
His best finish of the night, however, was for an offside goal, with the 22-year-old effortlessly dinking a goalkeeper of Alisson’s vintage.
He was clearly offside, but the finish demonstrated the lad’s class nonetheless.
And here’s how commentator Ian Darke and Martin Keown reacted to the goal in real time.
Keown said on BT Sport: “What a finish by the way. He’s shown a bit of class there, but he’s definitely offside.”
Darke added: “Nunez did the right thing – he finished it – and we’ll have a look. There’s about 50,000 witnesses on that as well. We didn’t need any lines [to confirm the offside].”
The problem Arsenal have is that when Nunez dazzles on a stage as big as this, a Champions League quarter-final, it reduces the likelyhood of them signing him.
A lot of massive clubs will have watched on with interest tonight as Nunez tormented the Liverpool back four – not to mention Alisson – and he might be getting out of the Gunners’ reach just a tad.
There’s no doubt that Arsenal will need a world-class number nine this summer, but the more Nunez shines, the less likely it is that he’ll be going to London.
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