Jurgen Klopp has dismissed speculation over Darwin Nunez‘s future at Liverpool, insisting his current struggle is simply “part of a footballer’s career.”
Nunez has attracted plenty of headlines in the wake of last weekend’s 4-2 victory over Tottenham, having erased every photo of him in a Liverpool shirt from his Instagram page.
The 24-year-old has been linked with a switch to Barcelona by dubious sources, which was only magnified as he joined their centre-back, compatriot Ronald Araujo, for a trip to Disneyland during time off this week.
But from Klopp’s perspective there is no issue with his No. 9, though in his pre-Aston Villa press conference he did admit he was “not involved anymore” in future plans.
“There’s no speculation. That must be an external speculation, because I don’t know about it,” he said.
“But maybe! I’m not involved anymore. There’s no speculation, just the situation we’re in.
“Darwin was definitely not happy missing that chance [against Spurs]. He was unlucky in so many situations, where he’s doing everything right, then the ball still doesn’t go in.
“It’s really tough for a young man. He knows about the expectations, he has big expectations for himself.
“He has to go through it. It’s part of a footballer’s career. That’s all.
“His problem is that he is that good that he is constantly in these moments. If he is a little bit less good, he couldn’t have chances then people would say he’s not great.
“How may goals did he score? Eighteen [overall] and 11 [in the league], not bad numbers.
“It’s just because of his quality, constantly in these situations, then people say ‘eh?’.
“And because of our situation as a team, if somebody else would score in that moment, people wouldn’t have felt that bad.
“Nobody likes it, but it’s part of a career. That’s it.”
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