Ex-Liverpool front man Emile Heskey gives his view on Darwin Nunez and Alexander Isak as he ponders what the Reds front line needs next season in title defence
Darwin Nunez
Darwin Nunez was off form last season despite title win(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Emile Heskey believes Liverpool will need Darwin Nunez to start scoring if they don’t sell him. And the former Reds forward fears Newcastle striker Alexander Isak won’t be available this summer.
Nunez, 25, is coming under fire after scoring just seven goals last season and the £85m signing has been linked with a move away from the club.
Saudi side Al-Hilal have been sniffing around but there has yet to be any offers made to the Reds for the Uruguay international. Heskey, who scored 60 goals in 223 games for the Reds between 2000 and 2004, believes Nunez has to step up to ease the goal-scoring burden on Mo Salah if he stays for next season.
“The thing is, Liverpool fans will always back you and always give you the opportunity, they have done until this day,” he told OLBG.com. “Darwin Nunez is a fantastic workhorse and with his work ethic, you see what you get from him and it’s fantastic, but the reality is there are goals that need to be scored.
"We've been spoiled over the years with Roberto Firmino, with Mo Salah (who's still spoiling us) and Sadio Mane, but when you look at the rest of them, when you're taking out Mo Salah, where are Liverpool getting their goals from?
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“That's one of the major doubts that a lot of fans and media have with him. Can he be that goal scorer that's going to get you a minimum of 15 goals?
“That's probably needed because if Mo Salah's not getting you the 35-plus, who else is going to be chipping in? I think at one stage, between Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, they had four goals. Not everything can be put onto Mo Salah to be getting the goals and be getting the assists and everything. So you're just looking at him, and you can't be good. His work rate is outstanding.
“He's a defender's nightmare because he just doesn't give them a second to think, which is great. After all, we've had probably one of the best defensive forwards in Ian Rush. He defended from the front, he didn't give the defenders one second, he chased them down. He made sure they were kicking the ball out.
“He made sure he was putting a tackle in on them and they understood the assignment that he had. I think Darwin Nunez has got that a little bit about him, but again, you want the goals alongside that because you've got to be chipping in when you’re trying to win the league again, you need that”.
Alexander Isak
Alexander Isak in action for Newcastle(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool have been linked to Newcastle hitman Isak, who Heskey would love to see in a red shirt but he doesn’t think the Magpies will be selling their star striker.
“I'd have to say Alexander Isak, but I'm not sure he'd be available,” he added. “He’s proven in the Premier League and proven to be playing in different roles as well. You don't just see him as an out and out forward who just stays in, I would say he’s Haaland-esque and just stays between the goal posts and waits for opportunities.
“He creates opportunity, he creates havoc. He runs with the ball, he takes defenders on, he takes defenders into areas that they don't necessarily want to go into and that's one of the toughest things for defenders, when a forward starts drawing you out of where you are comfortable and drawing you into uncomfortable territories - he does that.
“When you look at the different types of goals he’s scored, he’s scored tap-ins, screamers, headers and volleys. So someone like that would be ideal, but again, the key thing is availability, and I'm not sure he would be available."
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