Darwin Nunez is seen during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield in Liverpool, England, on March 8, 2025
It speaks to the paradox that is Darwin Nunez that a common opinion on the Liverpool striker this week might have him both starting a Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain while also leaving the club this summer.
Saturday's 3-1 victory over Southampton, one that took Arne Slot's side 16 points clear of Arsenal in second, was achieved with the help of an hour-long cameo that showcased every facet of the player who remains, nearly three years into his Anfield career, a perplexing box of contrasts.
"A game of two halves? Yeah, you can say that again!" was Andy Robertson's post-match appraisal. The Scotland captain was referring more generally to the match on the day, but he could quite easily have been explaining Nunez's afternoon in a nutshell.
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It began slowly and with the No.9 on the periphery, one closing-down of a Southampton defender to win a throw-in near the Main Stand was his first involvement of any kind before he unconvincing nodded over from Curtis Jones's unexpected flick on shortly after. A turn and shot on the edge the box was more encouraging but the effort didn't trouble Aaron Ramsdale too much before an awkward, overhead-kick style finish sailed high over the bar.
The shock lead of the visitors, from Will Smallbone's goal, resulted in Nunez reacting in a frustrated manner, swiping out at Kyle Walker-Peters for a deserved yellow card that, while checked, was never near the realm of being upgraded to a red by referee Lewis Smith.
It was here, as Nunez involved himself in a centre circle argument with his opponents before being dragged away by Mohamed Salah, that Southampton fans reached for the old terrace anthem favoured by the striker's detractors. For the umpteenth time across his Liverpool career, he was unflatteringly compared with Reds flop Andy Carroll.
It's largely been water off a duck's back for the former Benfica striker and he has often responded in kind with a decisive contribution to silence the abuse.
But like Bruce Wayne had the Bat Signal and Popeye found strength from copious amounts of tinned spinach, the derogatory chant, in its own way for Nunez, has helped give him what is needed to be the hero. It certainly helped refocus the mind of the Reds striker as he went into the break with his team trailing and threatening to fall victim to the biggest shock of the Premier League term.
The shushing of the Saints fans in the away end after converting Luis Diaz's cut-back shortly after the restart showed that he felt he had a point to prove to those who had mocked him about 20 minutes earlier.
"I think it was a bit too slow, everything," says Virgil van Dijk. "We couldn’t get into the rhythm. Obviously, they played a bit different to what they have been doing during their season.
"So they waited for us to lose the ball and we weren’t as comfortable on the ball. Passed the ball a couple of times into open space and they made a good counter on us. I don’t think it was down to tactics or anything.
"It just wasn’t good enough in the first half. Luckily football is more than just 45 minutes and you could clearly see, the second half was outstanding, from the first second to the last."
Robertson adds: "I think we actually started the game quite well the first five to 10 minutes, we kind of had them pushed back but the next 35 minutes was nowhere near good enough.
"I thought we were a bit lethargic, looked a bit tired, and they were able to enter the game with a bit of confidence. Second half was completely different, we brought the energy, we created chances and we deserved to win in the end."
Given how tense the entire place was at half time and how Nunez had toiled in the opening 45 minutes, it would have been no surprise had the Uruguay striker been a victim of the tinkering from Arne Slot during the interval.
“In the end I took him off because he was on yellow but I always hate the idea that if we need to score goals, to take off someone who can score a goal,” Slot confirmed. “That’s why it wasn’t in my mind to take him off because I was already planning on after these three."
Up to seven goals now for the campaign under Slot, he looks unlikely to better the 18 he secured last time out or even the 15 in his maiden Merseyside term, but in a season that has now seen crucial interventions against Brentford and Southampton in the Premier League - and the assist in Paris on Wednesday - there is still a part to play for a centre-forward who was the subject of interest in the January transfer window.
Back then, it was decided that it was all hands on deck with Slot wanting to keep together a squad that was threatening to turn an exciting year into a legendary one and Nunez, warts and all, remained an important part of it.
What happens beyond the end of the season is still up for real debate but the enigmatic South American still has some vital contributions to make, perhaps even starting with PSG on Tuesday night.