Alan Shearer was left stunned when he was shown footage of a solo run reported Liverpool transfer target Matheus Nunes made against Chelsea for Wolves this month.
On October 8th, despite Wolves losing 3-0 to Chelsea, at one stage of the game, Nunes picked the ball up from deep, he ran through the opposition’s team, before playing a through ball to his teammate who was denied at point-blank range.
On Amazon Prime Sport on Tuesday night, before Wolves were beaten by Crystal Palace, Shearer was shown that footage and he loved the ‘confidence’ the midfielder showcased.
Prior to the 24-year-old donning the colours of Wolves this summer, there was talk of clubs higher up the Premier League wanting to sign the all-action midfielder.
Liverpool, who ended up signing Arthur Melo on a loan deal, seemed to be one of those clubs, but nothing happened – well, the reports now suggest that the Reds still want the player ahead of future transfer windows.
Nonetheless, this is what Shearer had to say about the player and how he seemingly performs when it matters most, rather than when his team are winning.
“I think that clip there (his solo run against Chelsea) shows you what he is about,” said Shearer. “Football is easy when you are winning. Football is easy when you are full of confidence because everyone wants the ball.
“But it becomes a hell of a lot more difficult when you aren’t getting the results and it’s tough. Fans are moaning. You are looking at stuff in newspapers and social media thinking ‘where’s the next result?’.
“However, for you to go and get the ball, under pressure, and have that confidence to say ‘no, it doesn’t matter. I will still have that ball in a difficult situation and, at a place like Chelsea where you are under pressure, it tells me a lot about him.”
MIDFIELDERS NEEDED
In January and next summer, that is going to be the hot topic on Merseyside because, not one midfielder is needed, but several.
There are also a number of them at the club – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita – who might just be heading for the exit door.
It just hasn’t worked out for those players on Merseyside because, in recent years, they seemed to have spent more time in the treatment room than the pitch itself.
But what will be interesting about Liverpool’s midfield push is how much money they are willing to put on the table for the top stars across the world.
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