Jurgen Klopp has mounted a staunch defence of Darwin Nunez and dismissed any chance that the striker could join Barcelona.
Nunez sparked uncertainty over his future by deleting all Liverpool-related pictures of him from his Instagram account after he was criticised by fans for missing a one-on-one chance against Tottenham last Sunday. He was then pictured visiting his Uruguay team-mate and Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo in the Catalan capital, fuelling speculation he wanted to join the Spanish giants, who are keen on signing him.
Klopp has shot down such talk and insists any speculation after Nunez’s future is “external”. He defended the hitman, who has 18 goals and 12 assists this season for Liverpool, claiming he is being singled out unfairly because of his eight-game goal drought.
Nunez is second in the list for most big chances missed in the Premier League and Klopp says he is being criticised because his poor form coincides with Liverpool’s downturn.
“There’s no speculation,” said the Reds boss. “That must be an external speculation because I don’t know about it.
Jurgen Klopp's approach with Robert Lewandowski bodes well for Darwin Nunez
“There’s no speculation right now. It’s just the situation we’re in and, yes, Darwin was definitely not happy with missing that chance. He’s unlucky. He’s unlucky in so many situations where he’s doing everything right and then the ball still doesn’t go in.
"That’s really tough for a young man, it’s really tough. He knows about the expectations here, he has big expectations on himself.
“That’s tough and you have to go through this. There is no alternative to going through this and he’s going through it. That’s what he’s doing right now. We tried to help him, but in the end, you have to go through it. Everybody has to go through this and this part of a footballer’s career.”
Klopp claims Nunez is being punished because he keeps getting into goal-scoring opportunities and says he would only be bothered if he was anonymous in games.
“His problem is that he’s that good that he’s constantly in these moments,” he said. Obviously if he was a little less good, he would not have these chances and people would just say he’s not that great.
Your turn! Should Liverpool sell Darwin Nunez to Barcelona? Join the debate in the comments section
Darwin Nunez has been tipped to join Barcelona this summer (James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)“But because he’s that good, he’s in these moments where he can finish it off and he’s not always finishing it off. How many goals has he scored? 18? “And I think he’s not too bad with numbers as well. Right? Does anybody know? 18 goals and 12 assists? They are not bad numbers.
“It’s just because of his qualities and our situation as a team where we’ve had chances and didn’t score. Unfortunately, if somebody had scored it wouldn’t have felt as bad. That’s the situation, but again nobody likes it.
"But it’s part of a career. That’s it.”
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