Liverpool 'originally' wanted £52m 23-goal star instead of Darwin Nunez as Jurgen Klopp factor emerges

There could be a difficult life at Liverpool waiting for Darwin Núñez when Jurgen Klopp departs this summer as reports claimed he wasn’t their intended target in 2022.

The Uruguayan toiled against Everton and struggled to influence the game in a positive way as he passed up opportunities and failed to be a consistent figure in terms of link-up and being a viable option as James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite got the better of him in the Merseyside derby.

He passed up a great first-half opportunity when he was sent through against Jordan Pickford but with the goal at his mercy, his finish straight at the Everton keeper lacked any real composure. That has been the story of his Liverpool career: a lack of composure. Yet, he’s bounced back with 18 goals and 13 assists this season and shown tremendous improvements but the cracks have started to appear once again and the latest reveal from The Times’ Paul Joyce has claimed that he wasn’t the club’s original choice back in 2022.

He has reported that in 2022, ‘Núñez was very much a Klopp signing (Liverpool’s recruitment thinktank preferred Christopher Nkunku, then of RB Leipzig, who has spent this season injured at Chelsea) and the manager spoke about how it is his responsibility to provide the player with the confidence to perform.’

The revelation that Klopp steered away from advice isn’t new; in another case he wanted Julian Brandt in 2017 before Mohamed Salah was pushed by his colleagues. For Nunez, the case is very much still open as he has shown a remarkable improvement from last season and if he takes another step under a new manager, then it will have been a justified move. However, the frustration endured by him against Everton was also justified as he struggled on a big night.

In Nkunku’s case, he’s managed just 394 minutes of action after a horrible season affected by injuries. People will say Liverpool dodged a bullet but the root of his injury issues this season stem from a pre-season knee injury suffered on an artificial pitch. Prior to that he had netted over 59 goals and produced 29 assists in two seasons.

Klopp always backed his Uruguayan number nine and when he departs, Núñez will lose a huge backing. A new manager will obviously look at him and Diogo Jota as brilliant options but it’s unclear whether he will be trusted as the undisputed number one - and whether he can fire Liverpool to titles.