Darwin Nunez has had a very difficult Liverpool season and amid links to Saudi Arabia, Michael Owen has commented on his time at Anfield saying it’s “strange” how inconsistent the forward is.
When Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez from Benfica, it was criticised but many supporters were excited about signing a player that displayed world-class finishing at Anfield when the two sides met in the Champions League the season before.
His start to life, looking back, now seems indicative of how things would pan out for him going forward. Nunez scored a couple goals including a brilliant flick against Fulham but was then red-carded for headbutting Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen.
Nunez has very much taken one step forward and two steps back throughout his Liverpool career and it now seems as though he has an impossible task of breaking into the starting XI.
Commenting on his time at Liverpool, Michael Owen says it’s strange how inconsistent Nunez despite how obvious his talent is.
Michael Owen says Darwin Nunez is “incredible” one moment and “frustrating” the next
As quoted by the Liverpool Echo, Owen said: “It’s frustrating because you see parts of his game that you just think, wow, that’s just incredible.
“But then you see parts of his game that you think, wow, that should have been taught to you when he was 10 or 12. That’s the strange thing about his game.
“I was 50/50 over whether he was going to be an incredible player or someone who is always going to be a frustrating player who could do more.
“There’s a very good player, of course, but not somebody that’s going to now be ranked among the world’s elite strikers.”
While many have been holding out on Nunez making things work, he has just six goals and five assists this season. That wouldn’t be a bad return had he not cost the club an initial £64m.
As Owen says: “What you see is what you get.”
The former Liverpool striker continued: “He does things that you can’t teach people and then he doesn’t do things that should be very teachable.
“My assessment now is that what you see is what you get.
“I’ve been open-minded for a good while thinking this kid could be developing into something incredible. Now I don’t think that will be the case.
“He is a very good player, a big asset for Liverpool, but I just think what you see is what you get now.”
