Doubts over Darwin Nunez’s future at Liverpool appeared to be answered with the appointment of Arne Slott, who sees the forward as “critical” to his plans.
Nunez ended the season on a 10-goal drought, failing to start any of the last four matches, with speculation over whether he could leave.
However, the Uruguayan, who did end the campaign with 18 goals and 13 assists, is expected to finish behind only Mo Salah on both.
It comes with new head coach Slott planning to work closely with a player he believes is “critical” to Liverpool’s future.
The Telegraph‘s Chris Bascombe reports that Slott, who was officially announced on Monday, “checked him off as one of the many players he’s excited to work with.”
Slott held meetings with Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes in Rotterdam before the deal was agreed and made it clear that he admires Nunez.
The GuardianAndy Hunter is another who reported that the Dutchman “wants to work” with Nunez, with The Times‘ Paul Joyce explains that it is considered to possess ‘attributes that can be polished’.
Comparisons have been made with Santiago Gimenez at Feyenoord, where the Mexican forward scored 49 goals in 86 appearances under Sloto, having previously scored just 21 times in 105 games for Cruz Azul.
“Slott has been known to try to rebuild strikers’ confidence during analysis sessions by stopping the video ‘just as he’s kicking the ball wide’ to help his players absorb the explanations,” Joyce writes.
There is clearly huge potential in Nunez, but many have lost patience with the number 9 due to the number of big missed chances.
According to FotMob, only Erling Haaland, 34, has missed more big chances in the Premier League this season than Nunez, 27, but he has done so while outscoring the Liverpool striker 27 goals to 11.
Many of Nunez’s efforts have come in lesser competitions, with seven goals and five assists in 18 games across the Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Still, there is talent to be molded and Slott seemingly believes he is the coach to do it, possibly noting that Nunez averaged a direct goal contribution every 97.6 minutes in 2023/24.
That’s a metric that’s sure to appeal to forward Michael Edwards, too, with his underlying numbers proving he’s worth the effort.
