Darwin Nunez’s athletic pace and skill will be an enormous asset to Liverpool, says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who admitted that he would not recommend challenging the Uruguay international to a race.
The attacker has arrived from Benfica in a £64 million ($79m) deal, and is the star capture of Jurgen Klopp’s summer at Anfield.
Already, Nunez is drawing comparisons to another former Liverpool favourite in Luis Suarez, and Oxlade-Chamberlain says that he will be crucial to the Reds’ prospects this term.
What does Oxlade-Chamberlain think of Nunez?
“Darwin, we played against and saw him first hand and I think everything that we saw in those games reminded me a little bit of Luis [Diaz] when we played against him when he was at Porto,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told the club’s official website.
“He’s that sort of a player that you know what you are going to get from – the athleticism, the speed, the strength, the power – and it was the same with him. I remember having to chase Luis back at Anfield at one point and he made me stick it into fifth gear and then try to find sixth to keep up with him!
“You sort of remember those things and when he walked through the door that was the first thing I remembered – don’t try to get in a race with him if I’m expecting to win! I think Darwin would be the same. I think Virgil said first hand and Ibou said as well how quick and strong he was.
“I think he had that confidence and swagger about him as well and I think as a striker, as a forward player, you sort of need to have that confidence to go and do good things and lead the team from up there.”