Liverpool are ready to put a lot of pressure on Darwin Nunez already, if reports are accurate. The Uruguayan is expected to arrive shortly.
The Times claims that Liverpool will not buy a midfielder this summer. Instead, that’ll be their big task for 2023 – which suggests they’re done in the transfer market for now.
Calvin Ramsay could arrive as a backup right-back but it’s hard to see how Liverpool would sign anyone beyond that. Darwin Nunez is now a Red and arrives in what is potentially a club-record transfer. He’ll surely be the only forward who arrives – the squad will have five elite attacking stars.
Centre-back and left-back are already very solid. Goalkeeper, too. Midfield is really the only area Liverpool could sign anyone, then, and it sounds as though they’ll hold off.
It’s a move that will disappoint many and understandably so. Liverpool’s midfield is a mix of ageing, injury-prone players and kids who aren’t quite at the top level yet.
The decision to leave things as they are, then, is one that piles pressure on Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool pile pressure on Darwin Nunez
After the Champions League final defeat, BT Sport’s pundits all agreed on what Liverpool needed this summer. They saw room for a creative midfielder – someone who could attack the goal in a different way to the forwards.’
It makes sense. Liverpool didn’t score in three cup finals this season despite controlling possession in each. Adding an extra layer of creativity would help that.
But they won’t. Instead, Liverpool will add young Fabio Carvalho and the impressive Darwin Nunez to their attacking options. Now, Carvalho could be that creative midfielder but he’s still very inexperienced – there’s no pressure on him to deliver right away.
Nunez, however, very much has that pressure. Not only is he there to replace Sadio Mané but also move Liverpool on to a level that they couldn’t quite reach last season. Nunez needs to alter the attack, have the team attacking in a different way and make sure Mané isn’t too missed.
That’s a lot to ask of anyone, even if they are your record signing. While we believe Nunez can add the versatility that Liverpool want, but there will be intense pressure on him to do so.
Because if Nunez fails, Liverpool will go significantly backwards next season. He’s got to hit an unbelievable high standard and he’s got to do it from the off.