Michael Owen makes strange Darwin Nunez admission at Liverpool – ‘Just incredible’
Michael Owen has weighed in on the debate surrounding under-fire Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.
Nunez joined Liverpool back in the summer of 2022 for a fee reportedly worth £64 million. Having impressed in Portugal, Nunez was expected to replicate those eye-catching performances in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, the Uruguay striker has failed to replicate the goalscoring numbers and is no longer a guaranteed starter for the Reds.
Under Arne Slot, Nunez has netted just six goals in 36 games this season and has been confined to a substitute role for the majority of the campaign.
Nunez has been hit and miss for Liverpool
Since joining the Reds in 2022, Nunez has netted 39 goals. In comparison, Cody Gakpo joined the Reds in January 2023 and has netted the same amount of goals as the former Benfica striker.
This season, Nunez has scored just four goals in the Premier League and is behind Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Dominik Szoboszlai in goals scored.
Nunez has often been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, missing simple goals, skying easy tap-ins and often wasting crucial goalscoring chances. Yet, at times, he produces some world-class performances and scores outrageous goals.
Although against Aston Villa, Nunez was in the headlines for failing to convert from six yards and instead striking the crossbar. The goal would have given the lead to Liverpool.
| Season | Matches | Goals/Assists |
| 2022-23 | 42 | 15/4 |
| 2023-24 | 54 | 18/13 |
| 2024-25 (until 4th March 2025) | 36 | 6/5 |
Owen, in quotes reported by the Liverpool ECHO, stated that this sort of inconsistency is what you’ll get from Nunez.
He said: “In Darwin Nunez’s first season, I was 50/50 over whether he was going to be an incredible player or someone who is always going to be a frustrating player who could do more.
“There’s a very good player, of course, but not somebody that’s going to now be ranked among the world’s elite strikers. It’s frustrating because you see parts of his game that you just think, wow, that’s just incredible.
“But then you see parts of his game that you think, wow, that should have been taught to you when he was 10 or 12. That’s the strange thing about his game.
“He does things that you can’t teach people and then he doesn’t do things that should be very teachable. My assessment now is that what you see is what you get.
“He is a very good player, a big asset for Liverpool, but I just think what you see is what you get now.”
The Reds eyeing Alexander Isak as Nunez replacement?
In the past few months, Liverpool have been linked with Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak on numerous occasions. The Sweden striker has been supplying a steady amount of goals for the Magpies and the Reds are observing him with a keen eye.
The former Real Sociedad forward has already netted 19 Premier League goals this term and is only behind Salah and Erling Haaland in the golden boot race.
Should Liverpool manage to sign Isak in the summer, Nunez’s time might be up at the club. The South American has failed to hit the ground running and make an unprecedented claim to the starting role in his two-and-a-half years at Anfield.
Isak’s arrival will further push him down the pecking order and almost guarantee that his time in the Liverpool red jersey is up.