This season is now or never for Darwin Nunez’s Liverpool career

Good will from fans towards the Uruguayan striker remains but Arne Slot must revitalise a career which has reached a crossroads

The season was virtually over when Darwin Nunez latched onto a through ball and dashed to the top of the Premier League charts with his 33rd of the campaign.
Sadly for the Liverpool striker, we are not talking about goals. His considerable personal tally was for offsides.
For some fans, patience snapped, howls of frustration unleashing two months of angst in which Liverpool’s quadruple bid imploded.
There are several contenders as to how and when the Uruguayan found himself scapegoated for his side’s extreme form dip. It may have been following two games against Manchester United at Old Trafford in March and April, when a dominant Liverpool side lost ground in the title race and was knocked out of the FA Cup because of a lack of killer instinct.
Possibly it was during the Europa League quarter-final, first leg against Atalanta, when a terrible Nunez miss preceded the Italians ensuring Jurgen Klopp’s long farewell ended with an ‘audience with’ arena show rather than a Uefa final. The nadir was at Goodison Park five matches from the end, when a dire team performance could have been salvaged had the Uruguayan converted a one-on-one against Jordan Pickford.
Such failures previously prompted a belligerent chant of ‘Nunez, Nunez’ from a supportive fanbase. Now a debate rages as to whether he will ever be more than an unnatural finisher.
Klopp’s tolerance had evidently drained too, hence Nunez being benched before his farewell game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The striker’s response was to erase pictorial memories of his best Liverpool moments from social media.
Suffice to say, the campaign ended at the right time for the 25-year-old. In all probability, so did Klopp’s reign.
Arne Slot has arrived on Merseyside offering a fresh start and perspective, un-traumatised by the end of last season and excited by the possibilities of a raw talent. When asked about restoring the striker’s morale during his unveiling press conference, Slot appeared taken aback to learn that he had endured such an unhappy climax.
Nunez was among those to be immediately contacted by the new manager, informed of a plan to ensure the No 9 scores more scruffy goals and tap-ins and is less reliant on spectacular finishes – an opportunity to become a ‘fox in the box’, so to speak.
“I like him. I’ve told him,” said Slot, enthusiastically.
Given Slot’s attention to detail has already caught the eye of those working close to him, his public expression of surprise that Nunez suffered so much last spring feels like a ploy to improve his confidence.
The statistics emphasise the drop in form and productivity. Nunez’s injury time winner at Nottingham Forest in March was his 10th league goal of the season. He would score once more in the final eleven matches, his expected goals, shot conversion rate and assists dropping off alarmingly.
Just WOW! 🤩Incredible from @Darwinn99… and that away end 👏 pic.twitter.com/AG6mlwkOri
Of his 20 Liverpool league goals over 65 games, only three are against the big boys – Arsenal in October 2022 and a couple against Manchester United in the famous 7-0 victory in March 2023. He is yet to score in the Premier League against Manchester City, Chelsea, Spurs and Everton. Underperformance in the most consequential games leads to harsher judgments, and Slot’s backing will not dissuade cynics that the revived attempt to unlock Nunez’s potential is as much based on necessity.
Liverpool can not afford to give up on a player they invested up to £80 million on two years ago because they are aware that – in a break from most of their transfer dealings since 2015 – his market price has decreased. Slot’s task is to succeed where Klopp failed and extract full value on a consistent basis.
Klopp never undermined the idea he had erred in signing a player ill-suited to his style, Nunez far from the pressing machine of the previous number nine, Roberto Firmino, or attacker he effectively replaced in 2022, Sadio Mane.
Nunez was recruited during that strange period after Michael Edwards stood down as sporting director and there were murmurings that some deals were pursued on a whim rather than prolonged due diligence, the striker catching Klopp’s eye having played so impressively against Liverpool in a Benfica shirt.
Despite the fee having the potential to make Nunez a club record signing, within a matter of weeks the word from the training ground was that he would ‘need time’, the striker lacking the steely self-belief that one might have expected from someone commanding such a huge fee and with a big reputation.
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz did not need the ‘work in progress’ tag when instantly assimilated into the tried-and-trusted 4-3-3.
Those with long memories were reminded of when Liverpool paid club record fees for Djibril Cisse and Stan Collymore, only to inform them upon arrival they would have to reconstruct their game to fit the team’s set-up – thus nullifying many of the qualities which had prompted their signing.
For all that, there is a more upbeat explanation for Liverpool’s revamped football operation immediately and forcibly shutting down rumours Nunez could be sold in the off season – the one that his most vocal supporters will cling to most. There is a lingering hope that he will be explosive with experience and maturity. Nunez is still only 25 and should be entering his prime. Liverpool would not want someone else to benefit from two years of fine-tuning a player whose assets remain considerable and whose flaws might be fixed by a new coach.
It cannot be overlooked that Nunez’s numbers would be more impressive but for prodigious bad luck, striking the post an incredible 14 times in his Liverpool career. When firing and confident – as he was for the first half of last season – his pace and power can be unstoppable, and his enthusiasm ignites the crowd. He was a big reason why Liverpool launched an unexpected title bid, and there were many reasons beyond his missed chances why it unravelled.
That makes Nunez an open goal for Slot. If he turns him into a more rounded, reliable centre-forward, the credit will be his, rather like when Klopp rightly assumed praise for his coaching and use of Firmino even though he was signed during the reign of his predecessor Brendan Rodgers.
Nunez will never be Firmino or Mane, but it does not sound like Slot wants him to be as he endeavours to transform the striker into a symbol of how Liverpool’s style will be evolved, refined and – the club hopes – improved.
No Liverpool player will be more forensically analysed in the coming weeks, presuming Nunez’s indiscretions at Copa America when he fought with Colombia fans after Uruguay’s semi-final defeat do not lead to a domestic ban.
For sure, Nunez is at a crossroads entering his third Liverpool season.
In keeping with his Anfield career, he has another great chance. This is one he can not afford to miss to get the doubters back onside.