Klopp hails Nunez’s arrival

Liverpool manager says Reds have shown ‘decisiveness, ambition’ in landing striker


AFP June 15, 2022

LIVERPOOL:

Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool had shown "decisiveness and ambition in equal measure" to land Darwin Nunez for a fee that could rise to a club-record 100 million euros.

The Champions League finalists have splashed an initial 75 million euros on the 22-year-old, with an extra 25 million in performance-related add-ons according to figures released by Benfica.

That could take Nunez's move beyond the £75 million Liverpool paid for Virgil Van Dijk in January 2018 and make him the fifth most expensive transfer in Premier League history.

The Uruguayan scored 34 goals in 41 appearances last season, including twice against Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals.

"This is super news, really super news," Klopp told the Liverpool website. "I'm very grateful to everyone at the club for making it happen. We've shown decisiveness and ambition in equal measure.

"Darwin is a wonderful player; already really good but so much potential to get even better.

"That's why it's so exciting, to be honest. His age, his desire, his hunger to be even better than he currently is. His belief in our project and what we are looking to do as a club."

Liverpool narrowly missed an unprecedented quadruple of trophies last season.

Klopp's men lifted the League Cup and FA Cup, but lost out on the Premier League title to Manchester City by one point and were beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

And Nunez said he wants to write himself into the club's storied history.

"I'm really happy and delighted to be here at Liverpool. It's a massive club," said Nunez.

"When I arrived at the training ground, I was really surprised to see the set-up and the structure and all the trophies here.

"You can then imagine yourself winning more trophies and then later on when you come here again and see the trophies on display, you can say, 'Look, I was a part of that, I was there at that time, winning trophies'.

"That's one of the reasons why I came here to Liverpool - to win trophies and titles."

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ