If the Manchester City and Fulham performances are anything to go by, Liverpool have unearthed a new star in Darwin Nunez and Pep Lijnders has been talking about our new forward.
Speaking with GOAL, the 39-year-old said: “We followed Darwin for a long time. Our scouting team followed him, made reports, compiled videos and kept him in their sights.
“Then there is a moment when you’re sitting in a recruitment meeting with Jurgen, Julian [Ward] and Mike [Gordon] and it’s like ‘OK, let’s go!”
“He’s a centre-forward that likes to drift. He’s not a fixed No.9, and that was something we think can be good to open up spaces for others as well, which is something we think we can improve.
“Is it a gamble? Maybe, but the most important thing for the player is that he feels from the players and the staff that football isn’t a perfect game.
“We deal with moments where things don’t work out well, and that we don’t lose confidence and trust in the player. We don’t judge players on one game or one moment, never.”
It’s no surprise that the club were following the Uruguayan for a long time and that is why they were willing to spend so much money on him, as we very rarely make a knee-jerk signing.
The careful and calculated scouting led to the moment where the ‘OK, let’s go!’ could happen and it’s great to imagine the excitement in the room as those words were uttered.
There is always an element of a gamble with any signing but the staff are more than willing to allow the 23-year-old time to adapt to the club and vice versa.
Despite a fast start from our new No.27, he has arrived on long-term deal and so we all have plenty of room for patience before this all clicks for real.
Confidence is so key is this relationship and it must be sky high for everyone already, even after just one league game.
Let’s hope that we can all enjoy the former Benfica man’s first appearance at Anfield (in a red shirt) and that he can score his third goal in as many matches.
The post “Then there is a moment” – Pep Lijnders on the moment he and the Liverpool coaches decided to ‘gamble’ on Darwin Nunez appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
