Liverpool have been linked with a move for Chelsea striker Christopher Nkunku.
It’s a transfer that many would agree has not worked out.
In fairness, there haven’t been too many that have not gone Liverpool’s way in recent times. Football clubs often work on the rule that two signings in three will be successful. The Reds’ hit rate is far greater than the 66 per cent rate.
However, Darwin Nunez’s time on Merseyside has not been fruitful. A fee of £64 million - with the potential to rise to £85 million - was paid for the striker in the summer of 2022. After scoring 34 goals for Benfica and causing Liverpool’s defence issues in the 2021-22 Champions League quarter-finals, there was excitement when he was brought in.
You could see why the Reds opted for Nunez. He had the raw talents to petrify and devastate defences. Liverpool were never going to find another footballing anomaly like Roberto Firmino, so they followed a different tack.
However, in his three years at Anfield, Nunez has largely struggled. At times, there have been magnificence, such as doubles off the bench in wins at Newcastle United and Brentford. There have also been frustrating incidents, though. For example, miss against Aston Villa earlier this season led to public criticism from Arne Slot - not because the Uruguayan international failed to score but how Nunez reacted with a lack of work-rate rankled the Liverpool boss.
In this season’s Premier League title triumph, Nunez has played a bit-part role. He has started only eight top-flight games and scored seven goals in all competitions. The 25-year-old’s role diminished further after Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp as head coach.
Nunez was more of a prominent player under Klopp. Granted, his starting berth was not cast iron and it he was reduced to back-up roles as the respective 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns wore on. But from the outset, he featured a total of 41 times in the league for Klopp.
It’s been well known that Liverpool are in the market for a centre-forward this summer. It’s been a problem position, with Diogo Jota struggling with fitness woes again and Luis Diaz more effective as a left winger than through the middle. Nunez, on the other hand, is expected to move on when the transfer window opens.
Plenty of names have been linked with Liverpool. Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak has been on the radar but he’s expected to cost in excess of £120 million and Champions League qualification will strengthen the Magpies’ position further. The likes of RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sekso and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike are also said to be admired.
But a fresh report has claimed that Liverpool have taken a shine to a Chelsea outcast. It has been claimed by FootMercatothat Christopher Nkunku has emerged as a possible option for the Reds. That news might take some aback given that Nkunku’s time at Stamford Bridge has been more underwhelming than Nunez’s Liverpool career. After a £52 million move from RB Leipzig in 2023, having been prolific for the Bundesliga club, he suffered a knee injury in pre-season that ruled him out for a significant period. Nkunku managed only three goals in 14 games after getting up to speed.
This term, however, he has been more of a peripheral figure. While Nkunku has bagged 14 times in all competitions, just three have been in the league. What’s more, he’s missed out on a place in the past five match-day squads.
However, it perhaps should not come as too much of a shock that the France international is back on the radar. That is because he was reportedly a candidate to be recruited rather than Nunez. At that time, Liverpool’s recruitment was based heavily on data. The Times reported that director of research Ian Graham preferred Nkunku but Klopp was more keen on Nunez - and got his way.
“Nunez played brilliantly against Liverpool and that has an effect on people,” Graham told The Athletic. “It didn’t do him any harm in becoming a Liverpool player. The difficulty with Nunez was that he was a very different type of player to Firmino. My questions were: ‘Are we going to change our style or formation for him?’ Is he a good enough player that it might be worth making those changes?’ It was something we had resisted for many years.
“We went through the same data process for Nunez as with other players. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what a big change it would be with Nunez. It was more, ‘Are we sure we’re going to make the best use of him?’. We always had a list of ‘great players but not for Liverpool’. Defensive full-backs, target men, crossing wingers — we just didn’t play in that style. It was clear that Nunez was a No. 9.
“I wouldn’t say that the data said no to Nunez. It’s more ‘if we sign this player we have to understand this is the role we’ve seen him be effective in and is there currently a slot for him in our squad?’. And if you’re spending a large amount of money on a player then he has to start. The worst thing you can do is buy a squad player and spend money that could be out there on the pitch.”
It is intriguing that Nkunku is again linked, especially with Michael Edwards back at the club. Edwards was Liverpool’s sporting director until the summer of 2022 and would have had a strong grasp on the players that suited their profile. But after two years in the Premier League, now aged 27 and having had fitness issues, the Reds may well have moved on to different targets.
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