With Darwin Núñez struggling to find his form in front of goal it was only a matter of time when Vitor Gyökeres was linked with a move to Anfield.
There has been numerous outlets reporting Liverpool’s interest in the Swede in recent weeks, albeit non of the reliable local Merseyside reporters.
Impressive numbers by the Swedish international
The 26-year-old has been in red hot form for Sporting Lisbon this season. He has struck the net a whopping 18 times in 14 appearances league appearances.
I went to watch him against 15th place Boavista at the José Alvalade Stadium on Saturday. Gyökeres got off the mark after just 23 minutes to send the home side in front.
It looked as though the league leaders would cruise to victory. In truth, they were lucky to leave with three points.
Gyökeres capitalized on some poor defending by the visitors to open the scoring from a few yards out. His pace is superior to most centre forwards in world football. His smart runs off the shoulders of the Boavista defenders made him a nightmare to contend with.
61 goals this season and counting but question marks will remain if he can return to the England and continue tormenting defenders.
Coventry City sold him for just €24M in the summer of 2023. With clubs across Europe monitoring him, the Portuguese side are set to at least treble their money in the summer of 2025.
With Darwin Núñez’s dry spell in front of goal under the spotlight, fans are casting their eyes across Europe wondering where Liverpool could find the vital goals needed for success.
Slot’s vote of confidence for Núñez
Arne Slot recently gave Darwin Núñez a vote of confidence:
“He is part of a team who scores a lot of goals and is winning a lot but of course as a No 9 you want to score more goals and that is definitely what he wants as well. But until now I am not only judging Mo on his goals, I am not only judging Darwin on his goals.”
“Maybe it’s because the fans support him so much, maybe he wants it too much to score that goal for himself and also for the fans because they have been very supportive.”
“Darwin has shown already that he is a goal-scorer. In my opinion, it is a matter of time before he starts to score. But he is in competition with Diaz, who can play (there) as well, and Jota. It is not just the challenge of scoring goals but competing with others too.”
Publicly Slot has backed Núñez, privately can Núñez convince his boss he is the man to take Liverpool forward in the number 9 shirt?
Núñez has scored just twice in 12 Premier League appearances this season. Many felt that Arne Slot was the man to finally unlock his goalscoring potential at Anfield.
Fans rightly roar the Uruguayan’s name from the stands for his neverending work rate, his heart-on-his-sleeve emotions, and his quirky character. He is likely to given the remainder of the season to impress but after that Slot is going to have to make a call.
I, like everyone else, would love to see Núñez hit the numbers required to fire Liverpool to trophies. However, all great teams who have won the Premier League have had great goalscoring forwards. Aguero, Henry, Haaland, Salah, and Cole come to mind.
Núñez needs to improve his numbers
Núñez is likely to finish the season on 8-9 Premier League goals. The 25-year-old must be credited for the work he does off the ball to regain possession for the Reds and his ability to create space for team mates but it’s goals he will be judged on long-term.
Back to Lisbon. Viktor Gyökeres also wears his heart on his sleeve. But sometimes to the detriment of his teammates. He lost his cool on more than one occasion against struggling Boavista when the service his midfielders were providing him was not to his liking.
He also should have scored at least two goals. He played a role in Francisco Trincão’s winner with incredible work down the touch line before the former Barcelona man scored the winner in the 65th minute. Sporting ran out 3-2 winners after Boavista struck twice on the break.
Despite scoring one and creating another, more was expected from the former Coventry City man. He lead the line well but it is step up to the Premier League. There is no doubting his qualities, but for a fee that could creep up to €100M, there should be no doubting his ability to show his qualities in the Premier League.
He won’t be afforded him the same time on the ball in the Premier League. The defenders he will be playing against will be a lot more savvy than the ones he meets on a weekly basis in Portugal. With Liverpool looking for guaranteed goals, ironically, they may have to look past the man with 61 in 2024.
