Darwin Nunez – The Man Hoping to Take Down Liverpool and Play in the Premier League
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It has been a season to forget in the Portuguese Primeira Liga for Benfica as they struggle to keep pace with Porto and Sporting Club. However, they have performed well in the Champions League and that is thanks, in part, to the goals of Darwin Nunez.
The Uruguayan striker joined Benfica from Almería in 2020 for a club record fee of €24 million having finished with 16 league goals in the Spanish Segunda División, making him the joint fourth highest scorer of the season. That statistic is not particularly remarkable but it was enough to persuade Benfica to sign Nunez and they have been rewarded.
With Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland only affordable for a small group of clubs and Dusan Vlahovic having made the move to Juventus in January, Nunez is fast becoming an option for several clubs in the summer, including Arsenal in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old striker is the current top scorer in the Primeira Liga with 20 goals to his name. The goals have come in only 22 appearances, which is a tremendous record.
The Uruguayan is 5 goals clear of the second highest scorer in the division and interestingly, 17 of his 20 goals have come from open play. So, there is not a reliance on penalties to raise Nunez’s goals tally and he is a player who has been finding the back of the net with regularity from open play.
You only must look at the open play key passes made by Arsenal to date in the 2021/22 Premier League season to see why they could be a good match. Arsenal have made 287 key passes in open play in the Premier League, which is fourth in the rankings. A key pass is a pass that allows a player to have a shot at goal and Nunez would thrive on the service being provided by Arsenal’s creative players this season.
Not only does Nunez bury his chances, but he is also willing to play as a target man and drift out wide when required. That is something which would suit Arsenal and create space for other players in and around the penalty box.
Nunez only has 2 assists to his name for Benfica this season but he has been creating chances for his teammates, which have not been taken. At the time of writing, Nunez has been setting up his teammates for a shot at goal at least once in every Primeira Liga match he has played for Benfica this season.
19 of Nunez’s 20 goals in the Primeira Liga have come inside the penalty area, so he may require good service to thrive in the Premier League but that is something Arsenal can provide.
However, for the time being, Nunez will have his mind on a different English club as Benfica prepare to face Liverpool in the Champions League. If Nunez can score the goals to see off Liverpool, Arsenal can expect plenty of competition for his signature this summer.
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