Graeme Souness still has ‘faith’ in Darwin Nunez proving a hit at Liverpool after his transfer from Benfica. But the Uruguay forward’s shooting has been ‘nowhere near’ good enough.
The Reds brought Nunez to the Premier League in June after agreeing an initial £64m deal for the striker. Add-ons could take the price up to a club-record £85m, as well. But the 23-year-old has struggled to live up to the sum Jurgen Klopp paid for his services this summer.
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Through 21 appearances across all competitions, Nunez has only scored nine and created a further five goals with Liverpool. His haul also only includes five goals and four assists from 12 Premier League outings. One of his attempts also came in the Community Shield in July.
Only at Arsenal as Liverpool lost 3-2 has Nunez also scored a Premier League goal against another top-six team. His top-flight haul further includes efforts against Fulham (1), West Ham United (1) and Southampton (2). Klopp did not start Nunez against Manchester City.
Nunez further missed three Premier League games in August after receiving a straight red card in just his second appearance. It kept him out of the Reds line-up against Manchester United, AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United. The Red Devils would beat Liverpool 2-1.
Souness backs Liverpool star Nunez but his shooting is ‘nowhere near’ good enough
Klopp was also without Nunez as Liverpool lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest in October due to a hamstring injury. Yet the 16-cap attacker – who did not score through three appearances for 242 minutes at the World Cup in Qatar for Uruguay – ranks second for shots at Anfield.
Mohamed Salah (57) is the only Liverpool player to have attempted more shots so far this season than Nunez (52) in the Premier League, per WhoScored. Yet the forwards have only directed 24 and 23 on target respectively with 23 and 22 attempts failing to find the mark.
But Salah has scored seven goals, the joint-most by a Liverpool star with Roberto Firmino this season. The Brazilian has scored seven from 33 shots with just six going off-target so far. And hitting the mark is the key area Liverpool icon Souness feels Nunez must improve.
“I retain faith in Nunez,” Souness declared in his column for the Daily Mail. “He has not got the goals his work rate deserves and he has been nowhere near clinical enough. But I like a striker who comes back for more and puts themselves in positions to miss.”
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