Darwin Nunez is arriving under scrutiny and pressure of a big transfer fee at Liverpool but not for the first time in his career.
Speaking with BBC Sport, Filipe Ingles from the podcast Benfica FM discussed his first thoughts on the Uruguayan: “When he arrived it was a bit scary. I said that I thought he would be the biggest flop in Benfica history because he cost so much money and what we saw at the beginning was a bit frightening.
“I even said I would buy his shirt if he scored 30 goals in a season because I never thought he would be able to do something like that, but he improved so much these two seasons.
“He has progressed a lot. Physically he has become a monster; he is so physical and quick, and another thing he has improved a lot is confidence.
“He was the type of striker that sometimes lacked the confidence to score; he always tried to pass the ball to another player and that is something in the first season we all saw he had that problem. In this second season he became much more confident, he started scoring goals.”
It’s both worrying and reassuring that supporters of Benfica had to experience this with the 22-year-old, who is set to arrive under a bigger spotlight on Merseyside.
What our new No.27 can build on though, is the fact that he’s done this before and now he can ensure that he turns into a ‘monster’ at Anfield – hopefully without the slow start this time.
Jurgen Klopp will also ensure that he only enters the first-team when he’s ready to do so and will instil extra confidence into the 6’2″ forward next season.