Jurgen Klopp responds to claims Darwin Nunez could leave Liverpool
- Nunez has been heavily linked with a move away from Liverpool this summer
- Barcelona tipped to move for Uruguay international as Robert Lewandowski replacement
- Klopp asked about the speculation during Friday's press conference
By Tom Gott
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has played down reports claiming Darwin Nunez could leave Anfield this summer.
Reports have claimed Nunez is increasingly unhappy with life at Liverpool and could be interested in a move to Barcelona, where he is said to have been identified as the preferred replacement for the ageing Robert Lewandowski.
Klopp, however, insisted he knows nothing of a potential exit for Nunez, who he backed to rediscover his best form soon.
"There is no speculation," said Klopp. "It must be an external speculation because I don't know about it, but maybe I'm not involved in it anymore. There is no speculation right now. It is just the situation we are in.
"Yes, Darwin was definitely not happy missing that chance. He is, let me say 'was' because that could have changed now, unlucky in so many situations where he is doing everything right and then the ball still doesn't go in.
"That's really tough for a young man, it's really tough. He knows about expectations, he has big expectations on himself. That's tough. And you have to go through this.
"There is no alternative than going through it. And that is what he is doing right now. We are trying to help him with everything we can, but in the end, you have to go through. Everybody has to go through this, it's part of a footballer's career. That's all."
Klopp went on to argue Nunez has actually become a victim of his own ability to find scoring chances, which means he naturally misses more shots than the average striker.
"His problem is that he is that good that he is constantly in these moments and it's so obvious," the Liverpool boss continued. "If he was a little bit less good, then he wouldn't have chances and people would just say it is not great.
"Because he is that good, he is in these moments where he can finish it off but now he isn't finishing it off in the moment. How many goals did he score? Oh, 18?
"I think he's not too bad with numbers. 18 and 11 [in the Premier League]. They're not bad numbers. It's just because of his quality and constantly in these situations.
"Everybody is saying, 'oh, not again!' Because of our situation as a team where we had chances and didn't score unfortunately, if somebody else had scored in that moment, it wouldn't have felt as bad. That's the situation. Nobody likes it but it's part of a career."
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