Liverpool aren’t supposed to be miles clear at the top of the Premier League.
With Jurgen Klopp stepping down from his manager’s role at the end of the 2023/24 campaign after missing out on the biggest prizes, rivals tittered as Arne Slot took the German’s baton and prepared himself for failure.
These might be echoes of misguided opinion, but Liverpool have been nothing short of mesmerising in their professional brilliance this season, sitting pretty at the top of the division with an 11-point lead over second-place Arsenal.
Into the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United and preparing for a two-legged showdown with Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League, there’s plenty to play for. The high-flying Reds are firing on all cylinders.
Well, maybe not all cylinders – Darwin Nunez has been something of a conundrum since signing for the Merseysiders in a deal worth £85m (a club record), and he’s facing a summer departure after failing to kick on under Slot’s management.
Darwin Nunez's inevitable departure
This was supposed to be Nunez’s season. Liverpool hadn’t signed a striker last summer to kickstart the Slot era, leaving Diogo Jota and the Uruguay international as the two recognised senior options.
It’s nearly March, and Dominik Szoboszlai’s triumphant performance at the Etihad, moonlighting as a centre-forward as Nunez sat cold on the bench, epitomised the saddening situation he finds himself in.
He’s effectively fourth in the pecking order, behind Jota, Luis Diaz and now Szoboszlai. Cody Gakpo would be picked ahead of him too, were the Dutchman not performing so well on the left flank.
How has this happened? Retired striker Dwight Yorke remarked earlier this season that there is a “monster of a player” dwelling somewhere within Nunez’s recesses, but he hasn’t come out for more than flashes of promise across three years as a Red.
Perhaps the most concerning part is he’s having a comparatively effective season in front of goal. And even so, just four Premier League goals to his name, six from 35 appearances across all competitions.
It’s simply not good enough, especially with Jota missing 15 matches so far this term. He’s fit at the moment but has only scored eight goals, playing 22 times.
When you realise there’s a former Liverpool centre-midfielder who was offloaded on a free transfer, you begin to see how concerning Liverpool’s central striking options are in the long term.
The former Liverpool midfielder who's outscoring Nunez
Liverpool have hit the mark with the majority of their signings over the past decade, hitting with greater consistency than certain domestic rivals.
It’s not just about the big-money additions, but Klopp and Michael Edwards’ almost unerring ability to pick out players who had not yet established themselves at the top of the European game.
Take Gini Wijnaldum, for example. Relegated with Newcastle United in 2015/16, the Dutch ace joined Liverpool that summer in a move worth £25m.
Best-known across Europe for that moment in the Champions League, Wijnaldum was far more than an off-the-bench brace, even if it was one of the most significant cameos in Liverpool’s history, helping the injury-hit Reds on to an incredible 4-3 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the semis.
Wijnaldum, now 34, was described as an “irreplaceable” part of Klopp’s dynasty by correspondent Richard Jolly, playing 237 times. He only scored 22 goals, and only placed 17 assists, but then Wijnaldum’s role was one of control and fluency in the middle of the field, fashioned into an industrious workhorse after principally playing on the left flank with the Magpies.
He saw out his £75k-per-week contract on Merseyside, never once renewing. When Liverpool failed to tie him down to fresh terms in 2021, he was snapped up by Paris Saint-Germain, though failed to really kick on in the French capital and left for the riches of the Saudi Pro League in 2023, joining the now-departed Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq.
Klopp had actually gone on the record in November 2020 to state that he “would be happy if he would stay here,” but the impasse failed to find a resolution and Liverpool’s midfield perhaps didn’t look quite the same over the next two years, with Thiago Alcantara routinely injured.
The versatility of the Netherlands man could have been utilised over those next few years, perhaps even stabilising Liverpool in 2022/23, when they fell off a proverbial cliff as several members foundered.
He’s certainly showcased as such with his current outfit, playing across the midfield this season. Despite being fielded as an anchoring presence for the bulk of the term, Wijnaldum has still managed to fire nine goals home across 21 matches, recently claiming a brace in a 3-2 win over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
Central midfield
31
7
7
Defensive midfield
14
2
0
Attacking midfield
7
7
2
Right winger
2
0
0
He’s still got it alright. That impressive dynamism has been on full show in Saudi Arabia, with his natural-born clinical edge even seeing him outscore Nunez and Jota for Liverpool this year.
The goalscoring engine is a man of many parts, and while his ship has now sailed over on the banks of the River Mersey, his continuing success serves as a rueful reminder of the talent that supercharged Klopp’s squad in its pomp, and the inverse of that, that his goalscoring form underscores just how flimsy Liverpool’s central strikers have been – either on the fitness front or in the final third themselves.
Wijnaldum will turn 35 before the end of the year and, in this twilight stage, perhaps no longer has the athleticism and crispness to withstand the rigours of Premier League football.
However, a prime Gini may well find a starting spot in this current Liverpool midfield, underscoring the value he had under Klopp’s management. The fact he’s still got enough in the tank to outscore the likes of Jota and Nunez, nearly four years after leaving, suggests that maybe his departure was premature.
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