His behavior during Jurgen Klopp's guard of honor revealed everything: Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez is unhappy at Liverpool.
Nunez started the season bright but came up short when the Reds needed him most, striving for a first-place finish in the Premier League at the tail end of the season. Nunez just scored once in the team's last 13 games. His 38 big-chance misses mark the most by a Liverpool player in a single term.
While he'd been far removed from the starting IX in early May, the frustrated 24-year-old vented on his Instagram account by removing images and blocking fans on X.
Nunez's actions appeared done. But then Nunez took to a Uruguayan news outlet last Saturday to unleash further.
Nunez feels far from home at Liverpool
“I feel like my home is when I am in the National Team,” said Nunez, ahead of Copa America 2024. “That's when you get together with your people, you can talk to everyone, and you feel comfortable in the National Team.
“My family is close too; Every time I go to the National Team I feel like I am at home. I also like Almeria a lot, there I met the love of my life with whom we formed a very happy family. Every time I go to Almeria I am very happy too.”
Almeria, a second-division club in Spain, is where Nunez enjoyed his breakout season before continuing to shine at Benfica before heading in a £85 transfer to Liverpool the following season. Despite Klopp being “completely convinced” in Darwin's potential early on and telling the player to “screw” the criticism, fans remain unconvinced by Liverpool's record transfer. Nunez's latest comportment reveals the price paid mentally and physically for highly paid future prospects.
Now, new Liverpool boss Arne Slot decides Nunez's future at Anfield with Barcelona waiting to pounce on any transfer speculation. In the meantime, the forward is all eyes on Copa America. He's scored 8 goals for La Celeste, where he's now the main striker.
“The Uruguayan people can get excited, the Copa América is going to be good. You always have to get excited about those things,” said Nunez.
“We are going to try to leave everything on the field so that the results turn out well and things turn out positive.” Uruguay kicks off Copa America against Panama on June 23, with Nunez looking to lead La Celeste to their record-setting 16th Copa America title.
Photo: x/FootballTalkHQ, ig/DarwinN9
