Virgil Van Dijk has suggested that Darwin Nunez had been struggling with his price-tag before hitting some form for Liverpool.
Nunez scored in each of his first two games for his new club after joining for an initial £64m in the summer. But after a sending off, five goalless games then followed. The 23-year-old has since bounced back, with seven goals in his last 10. And speaking to liverpoolfc.com, Van Dijk said that Nunez was now showing his class.
“He has all the qualities for a modern-day striker – that is the reason why we bought him,” said the Reds No.4. “He is learning how we want to play, he is learning what we expect from him. He plays a little bit on the left but also has a free role to come into the middle.
“It takes time. It is a new team, new environment, new country, new language so it is absolutely normal for him to take a little bit more time [to settle in] but there is no doubt the qualities are there and the goals will follow. It’s obviously frustrating when you have a price tag like that, and the goals are not flowing but we never doubted his quality and I think he’s done very well.”
Van Dijk knows all about having a hefty price-tag around your neck. The 31-year-old is still Liverpool’s record signing. Unlike Nunez though, it really didn’t seem to bother him at all. We can’t all be as cool as you, Virgil.
Nunez coming good at Liverpool
If everything goes to plan for Nunez, he will soon surpass Van Dijk as Liverpool’s most expensive buy.
The exact details of the add-ons that will turn his £64m deal into £85m aren’t public knowledge. But to reach them, the Uruguay international will have to be a success at Anfield.
A couple of months ago, that would have sounded like a long road for Nunez to walk. But now, the landscape is immeasurably different.
He now looks like the player Liverpool thought they were signing. A danger throughout games and prolific in terms of goals, Nunez is un-droppable at this very moment.
Now away on World Cup duty, Liverpool will be praying that he doesn’t injure himself whilst away from the club.
Nunez is a player who very much wears his heart on his sleeve. Given a chance on the biggest stage in football, it’s easy to see him trying that bit too hard and giving himself a problem.
Over the last couple of months though, we’ve seen the former Benfica man start to cool down a little. He looks a more measured player almost week to week and is only going to keep improving in that respect.
For now, we’ll have to watch Darwin from a distance. But as he hopefully runs rings around defenders in the Middle East, we can look on safe in the knowledge that he’s ours.
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