In the summer of 2022, it was clear that Darwin Nunez would leave Benfica to join a more powerful European club.
The striker had scored goals against the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Ajax in the Champions League, and that was proof he should be ready for a bigger challenge.
Unsurprisingly, it was one of those victims that ended up signing him, with the Reds spending €80m to get him from Benfica.
Darwin had scored against Liverpool at the Estádio da Luz and at Anfield, and, according to the Eagles’ manager at the time, that was crucial for his move to the Reds.
Coach Nelson Veríssimo was interviewed this week by A Bola, and when asked about the striker, recalled the great impact he had in that season.
“Darwin is a rebellious young player… rebellious in the sense of what he puts on the pitch, of how he likes to play his game,” Nelson Veríssimo told A Bola.
“It’s true that with us he loosened up more and scored many goals, but he also had them before. What we tried to do, knowing that in many moments defensively he wasn’t as connected to the team, was giving him freedom at the front, in what he liked to do and I think that allowed him to let go. The game he played against Liverpool turned out to be decisive for his transfer.”
Veríssimo also praised another Benfica striker, Gonçalo Ramos, who’s also been doing great for the club this season and is set to be sold for a huge price in the next transfer market.
According to the coach, one would complete the other back then.
“It’s in plain sight. He’s a player with a lot of quality and he scores. Anyone who knows him well since he was young, since the academy, knows that he always scored and is very supportive of the team, and that happened last season, he ran for him and for Darwin in a defensive process and that caused him to wear himself out, but it’s always been that way. He’s a player who knows how to be on the pitch.”
Should Liverpool be in the market for a striker in the summer, they’ve just be told of someone who works well with Darwin Nunez.
