Darwin Nunez has been watching Liverpool forward Luis Diaz with interest this season.
That’s according to 90min, who claim that Nunez has taken a ‘keen interest’ in how Diaz has settled into life at Liverpool.
After seeing the impact of Diaz since arriving from Porto, they have reportedly ‘made their interest known’ in another player from Portugal.
It’s claimed that to this end, Liverpool have now ‘opened a dialogue’ with Benfica about signing their Uruguayan striker.
Despite Liverpool’s interest, 90min claim that Manchester United are ‘continuing to lead the race’ for Nunez.
Liverpool’s scouting pays off
Liverpool have been credited with keeping a close eye on talents playing in Portugal. Their desire to bring Nunez to Anfield is yet more evidence of that.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, far from it. Benfica have long been a source for nurturing top talent and the list of players who have come through their doors at early stages of their careers is incredible.
In general, Portugal is a real finishing school for would-be elite footballers. Here’s a few more players who Liverpool may be casting an eye over.
Porto too have an excellent track record of developing ready-made elite players for ‘bigger’ clubs.
Two of Portugal’s finest
Diaz is the latest example of that. Given how good he has been for Liverpool, it makes all the sense in the world to go for a player who scored even more than he did in Portugal.
Diaz was called ‘outstanding’ by Jurgen Klopp upon signing for Liverpool. By the time he left Porto in January, only Nunez had outscored him in the Primeira Liga this season.
Adding in his goals for Liverpool, Diaz ended the season with 22 goals. Nunez scored 34. If Liverpool can get the two linking together, that’s 56 goals added to the team that weren’t there at the start of the season.
Of course it looks virtually certain that Liverpool will lose the contribution of Sadio Mane, despite Bayern Munich’s ‘laughable opening offers.’ But in terms of a replacements, it doesn’t really get much better than two of Portuguese football’s finest.
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