Darwin Nunez's Liverpool career has not gone as well as Reds fans would have hoped, and it is expected that he will leave the club this summer after three seasons on Merseyside.
The Uruguayan moved to Anfield from Benfica in 2022 for what had the potential to rise to a club-record transfer fee, but the add-on clauses in his deal have not been met, and Virgil van Dijk remains the club's most-expensive signing of all time.
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Florian Wirtz is expected to take that title away from Van Dijk in the coming weeks, and the German's anticipated arrival is likely to coincide with the departure of Nunez.
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In the summer that Nunez moved to Anfield, there was a genuine debate over which club was signing the better striker out of Liverpool or Manchester City.
Erling Haaland made a mockery of that chat as he scored 52 goals in his first season in England as City won the Treble; Nunez managed just 15 — nine of which came in the Premier League.
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Haaland isn't the only player whose scoring record Nunez's pales against. We've taken a look at how Nunez's goals and assists numbers compare to five Liverpool greats past and present...
Nunez vs. Suarez, Torres and others
Let's start by comparing Nunez with the player he effectively replaced at Liverpool, Roberto Firmino. Firmino was not a prolific striker for Liverpool but he was highly regarded for how he knitted the team's play together.
Still, with 111 goals and 76 assists in 362 appearances, Firmino averaged a direct goal contribution every 1.94 appearances. That's markedly better than Nunez, who has scored 40 goals and registered 26 assists in 143 appearances, which equates to a goal or an assist every 2.17 appearances on average.
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What is bad news for Nunez is that Firmino's average is worse than all of Liverpool's great goalscorers in the Premier League era.
Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino won seven trophies together at Liverpool
Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino both posted better numbers than Nunez -Credit:Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Robbie Fowler scored 183 goals and registered 50 assists in 369 appearances — an average of one direct goal contribution every 1.58 appearances, while Fernando Torres scored 81 goals and registered 19 appearances in 142 appearances — an average of one direct goal contribution every 1.42 games.
There is a case to be made for Luis Suarez and Mohamed Salah being Liverpool's best attackers over the last three decades, and their goals and assists figures certainly back that argument up.
Suarez recorded 82 goals and 31 assists in 133 appearances — an average of one direct goal contribution every 1.18 appearances, while Salah's record is even better: he has scored 245 goals and assisted 113 in 401 appearances, which is an average of one direct goal contribution every 1.12 games.