Liverpool hope they have new Luis Suarez in Darwin Nunez but face tough call

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Liverpool have high hopes for Darwin Nunez after his 15-goal debut season but Jurgen Klopp faces a tough call with the Uruguayan centre-forward. Luis Diaz was handed the No 7 shirt on Monday and Nunez has been touted as the next owner of the No 9 jersey, a change Klopp and his staff would need to approve of.

Roberto Firmino’s departure means the iconic number – previously worn by the likes of Fernando Torres, Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler – is now vacant. And Nunez, currently the No 27, and No 18 Cody Gakpo are the two most likely players to inherit it.

Nunez was Benfica’s No 9 for two seasons before his move to Liverpool while Gakpo has worn the same number on occasion for the Netherlands. But it is currently unclear who will be the starting striker between the two next season, with Nunez also capable of playing out wide on the left – though Diaz and Diogo Jota also play there.

Gakpo scored seven goals in 22 starts in his first six months while showing he can be the natural successor to Firmino. But there is much to unlock from the pacier Nunez who was a menace in his second season at Benfica when he scored 34 goals, including Champions League strikes home and away against Klopp’s side.

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And handing Nunez the shirt could be just the shot of confidence he needs to kick on. There would also of course be some concern though that the No 9 would come with extra pressure and responsibility at a time when the forward is still not 100 per cent adjusted. But Klopp is really expecting Nunez to kick on in 2023-24, per The Athletic.

In looking to find a ruthless streak in his second season, Nunez is very much hoping to follow the path previously trodden by Luis Suarez, his childhood idol. His countryman would go on to become one of the best strikers of his generation but initially at Anfield he was seen as wasteful after joining from Ajax.

Suarez’s first full season saw him return 17 goals and nine assists while wasting a tonne of great goalscoring opportunities and hitting the woodwork six times. Similarly, Nunez produced 15 goals and four assists last year and missed 20 Premier League big chances – as many as any Liverpool player despite just 18 top-flight starts.

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He was a magnet for chances and created plenty himself, which will encourage Klopp, but now Nunez must take more of them. Suarez would of course go on to explode in 2012-13 (30 goals, 13 assists) and 2013-14 (31 goals, 19 assists). The hope for Nunez is that he can do the same.

The £85million striker himself admitted back in February: “Obviously, I still have many things to work on, for example my finishing. But I think the same thing is happening to me as happened to Suarez. In his second year, he tore it up. Something similar happened to me already at Benfica. The first year went very badly for me and in the second, I exploded.

“Here, I think the same thing is happening. I hope next season will be like that. I’ll put my best forward and hopefully I’ll get a bit of luck.” The question is whether he’ll do it with the nine on his back. Whether he gets the number or not, it is a huge season for the Uruguay international who simply has to be more clinical.

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