Ex-Liverpool transfer official reveals concerns over £85m Darwin Nunez deal

Former Liverpool director of research Ian Graham, a man who played a huge role in transfer decisions between 2012 and 2023, has shared concerns he had about signing Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool fans are yet to see the best of Nunez, whose arrival from Benfica was sealed in 2022 for £64m, potentially rising to £85m if all add-ons are triggered. But the Uruguayan, from scoring 34 goals in 41 appearances in his final season with Portugal, has 33 in 96 for the Reds.

Although there have been outstanding moments, he has struggled with consistency.

Nunez famously played well against Liverpool in the Champions League for Benfica, scoring in both legs of a Champions League quarter-final tie to impress Jurgen Klopp. Graham has revealed in an interview with The Athletic that Liverpool's capture of Nunez was less driven by data and research.

"Nunez played brilliantly against Liverpool and that has an effect on people. It didn't do him any harm in becoming a Liverpool player," Graham explained.

Ultimately, the issue has been trying to replace a player like Roberto Firmino, who had a very particular style of play, with someone else who didn't automatically fit the system.

"The difficulty with Nunez was that he was a very different type of player to Firmino. My questions were: 'Are we going to change our style or formation for him?' Is he a good enough player that it might be worth making those changes?'. It was something we had resisted for many years," Graham said.

"We went through the same data process for Nunez as with other players. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what a big change it would be with Nunez. It was more, 'Are we sure we're going to make the best use of him?'

"We always had a list of 'great players but not for Liverpool'. Defensive full-backs, target men, crossing wingers — we just didn't play in that style. It was clear that Nunez was a No.9.

"I wouldn't say that the data said no to Nunez. It's more 'if we sign this player we have to understand this is the role we've seen him be effective in and is there currently a slot for him in our squad?'. And if you're spending a large amount of money on a player then he has to start. The worst thing you can do is buy a squad player and spend money that could be out there on the pitch."

Nunez was left on the bench by new coach Arne Slot for Liverpool’s opening Premier League game of the season against newly promoted Ipswich Town. The Dutchman instead started with Diogo Jota up front, flanked by Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, and later turned to Cody Gakpo.

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