An £85 million price tag has seen Darwin Nunez become a lightning rod for scrutiny during pre-season, but Trent Alexander-Arnold is confident the goals will come.
“It’s still early days, not even a week with him around the team,” Alexander-Arnold told LFCTV.
That should, in reality, sum it all up for Nunez, but two brief outings during Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Asia have led to criticism from some quarters.
While that is to be expected of rival supporters, that certain ‘fans’ of the 23-year-old’s new club have leaned into the rhetoric is genuinely bizarre.
But speaking after the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Friday, Alexander-Arnold insisted that, eventually, goals will come “like London buses” for Liverpool’s new No. 27.
“He’s still kind of learning how we play, we’re learning how he plays, and soon enough we’ll get that connection,” he explained.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to supply him with the ball to score goals.
“You can see he’s itching for that first goal, but I’m sure once it comes it will be like London buses.
“We’ll back him.
“Obviously out there today, playing with him, you know to start that No. 9 movement that he’s got, the runs that he makes, where he wants the ball.
“It’s just about finding that connection and soon enough it’ll all be good for us.”
It is a measured assessment from the right-back, with Nunez clearly still adapting to the style of play required at Liverpool – and not least the demands of pre-season under Jurgen Klopp – but with no concern over his long-term form.
Nunez joined the squad late, following the post-season internationals with Uruguay, and has been thrown in at the deep end with little time to train or get to know his new team-mates.
After the 4-0 loss to Man United in which he made his unofficial debut, Klopp claimed “after his third sprint his lungs were ready to explode,” and that he had “massive blisters on his feet.”
There are any number of hurdles to jump when joining a new side, particularly for a club-record fee, but there should be no worries over Nunez.
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