Star’s Strengths ‘Weren’t Developed At Liverpool’ Says Ex-Coach Of Reds Man | OneFootball

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Dariwn Nunez’s former coach Fabian Coito believes that Liverpool have not played to the striker’s strengths and insists the Reds could not develop him properly.

The Anfield outfit paid a significant £64m to Portuguese giants Benfica to acquire the 26-year-old striker in the summer of 2022 and he joined at the same time Manchester City landed Erling Haaland, leading to comparisons between the two.

Nunez, though, unlike Haaland, has not been able to score consistently for the Reds and he is now expected to leave the club after three years.

Serie A giants Napoli and AC Milan are genuinely interested in signing Nunez and newly crowned Italian champions Napoli are ahead in the race; AC Milan view him as the ideal profile.

Coito stressed that the Uruguay hitman is physically very sharp and has no doubts that he is a very good human being too.

Coito coached Nunez in the Uruguay Under-20s and he believes that Liverpool have just not played to the striker’s strengths.

The 48-year-old recalled how he used to use Nunez during transitions and stressed that the hitman needs space to be able to operate, with him needing to be fed quickly when the ball is won back.

“First of all, he [Nunez] needs to be physically fit, tactically, he needs game situations where he can exploit space to unleash his attacks in depth”, Coito told Italian radio station Kiss Kiss Napoli (via Area Napoli) about the Reds hitman.

“This is his main characteristic that impressed me, even when I coached him as a young player with Uruguay.

“I remember that in one match we were defending very deep, but as soon as we won the ball back, Darwin, with his progression, was already launched on the counter-attack and in a few seconds he was in front of the opposing goalkeeper.

“And this is his main weapon even now.

“And these tactical prerogatives probably weren’t developed at Liverpool, preventing him from expressing himself to the fullest.

“In the Premier League, the pace is high, and you have to make the best decisions on the pitch in a fraction of a second.”

Nunez still has 40 goals and 26 assists in 143 games for Liverpool to his name and it remains to be seen if his journey ends at those numbers.

Liverpool have been largely expected to sign another striker this summer.