Klopp hints why €80m man Darwin Nunez is not a Liverpool starter

Robin Bairner

• 26 Apr 2023 10:30 BST
• 3 min read

Jurgen Klopp has hinted at why Darwin Nunez has found game time hard to come by at Liverpool in recent weeks.

Signed for €80 million – potentially rising to €100 million – from Benfica in the summer, Uruguay international Nunez was expected to star for the Reds this season.

Instead, he has found himself playing a frustrating peripheral role in weeks, despite contributing 15 goals in all competitions, including nine in the Premier League.

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Nunez’s minutes, though, have been rather limited. Klopp has used him as a replacement in four of the last five Premier League matches, coinciding with Diogo Jota’s return to full fitness. The Portuguese has scored doubles in each of his last two Premier League games, and head of Wednesday’s clash with West Ham will be difficult to dislodge from a starting berth.

But it is not necessarily his offensive contribution that Klopp is interested in. The German has hinted that Jota offers the team better defensive balance than Nunez.

“It needs a specific set up that he can play and defend in the centre,” Klopp explained before the Nottingham Forest fixture. “That’s how it is. Playing in the centre is not a problem, there he’s a machine.

“Then we have to make sure that we understand as a team. We were not stable for a real long spell in the season. On top of all the problems we have, the boys have to adapt to different defending, a different striker up top as well.”

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'Nunez a long-term project' - Klopp

Nunez, who is continuing to struggle with his English, faces the possibility of a prolonged stretch on the bench, with Liverpool having recorded back-to-back wins.

Klopp admitted on the striker: “This is a long-term project. I understand that he wants to play desperately from the beginning. That’s all fine. But we have to find for us a way that it works really for us again.”

Right now, it is working again for Liverpool with Jota in attack – and that only spells bad news for Nunez in the short term, at least.