Recently, Liverpool announced the £37 million signing of Cody Gakpo from PSV. He made his debut at Anfield before the winter transfer window opened.
It was a surprise deal because midfield is where Liverpool need reinforcements. And although Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino are all sidelined with injury, when they return, Liverpool will face a superfluous crisis, because they still have other names like Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool quickly brought back Gakpo from PSV.
The question is when bringing Gakpo back, what will be the future of Darwin Nunez. At least for now, from Liverpool’s point of view, Gakpo will reduce the scoring burden for the 100 million euro striker. Time will tell for Jurgen Klopp’s gamble.
Looking at history, after a blockbuster transfer, the strikers will either sublimate completely, or will fall into the depths of despair.
Salah at Liverpool, Erling Haaland at Man City, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal; Diego Costa at Chelsea; Robin van Persie’s move to Manchester United – this group never stops scoring and has built a reputation in the Premier League.
On the contrary, there are people who only have their own shadow after pressure from the media and the press. That group includes: Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata (Chelsea), Andy Carroll (Liverpool) and Wilfried Bony at Manchester City.
One exception was Firmino, who scored just one goal in his first 24 appearances, after moving to Liverpool from Hoffenheim for £29m in 2015. Since then, Firmino has become a Liverpool staple. . However, not many people are as good at managing and overcoming pressure as Firmino.
Statistically, Nunez did a lot better than Firmino in his first six months at Liverpool. Indeed, his scoring record is actually more impressive than you can imagine.
Nunez needs to take the pressure off to play better.
After 20 games in all competitions, the 23-year-old has pocketed 9 goals and 4 assists. Unfortunately, the unbelievable misses made him the focus of criticism on social networks.
Nunez has an expected goal count (xG) of 5.9 in the Premier League this season, ranking eighth and actually scoring five. Manchester City’s Haaland comes in first with an xG of 11.1.
However, focusing too much on xG can be misleading. Salah’s xG is 7.9 – scored 7 goals, so not significantly better than Nunez.
The only difference between the two is that Salah is not as hasty and hasty as Nunez when he has the opportunity to eat.
So far, Nunez has only scored one important goal for Liverpool, a shot that sealed a 1-0 win over West Ham in October. He needs to try harder in the big games. And when another notable deal appears next to him, believe that it is the motivation for Nunez to fight stronger for the rest of the season.
Crouching Dragon | 12:16 30/12/2022
