Darwin Nunez had lost control. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
The Uruguayan’s clubrecord price tag weighed heavily on his square-set shoulders. Playing for a domestic giant, struggling to live up to their pre-season billing as one of the two title favourites, his slow start had burned into his psyche. As an early-evening sunset gave way to a floodlit glow, the frontman’s frustration boiled to a crescendo. He knew this was a pivotal moment at his latest club. He had to do something.
Drenched with sweat, his red kit clinging to a sinuous frame, the pumped-up Nunez lost his self-control, turned on his heel and embedded his forehead into the torso that stood before him.
Then, he began to cry. Nunez’s tears bled into Haris Seferovic’s shirt, as his head nestled against his team-mate’s chest. The youngster had just put Benfica 5-0 up against Pacos de Ferreira in April 2021, his first goal for two months and just his third in the league that calendar year. He had so struggled with the pressure of being the Eagles’ most expensive player that he’d sought help from the club’s psychologist and deactivated his Instagram account to avoid the stream of abuse. Selfimprovement became a watchword.
Fast forward 18 months, 35 Benfica goals and an £85m move to Liverpool, and Nunez’s next momentary loss of control dominated his first steps in England. The 23-year-old’s headbutt of Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen 57 minutes into his first start may have been a first career red card for violent conduct, but it didn’t take long for the fallout to focus on how Nunez would deal with the Premier League. Surely, thought pundits, fans and almost certainly opposition bosses, this was a sign of a firebrand player unable to keep his emotions in check?
No matter that his footballing education came on Uruguay’s notoriously Machiavellian pitches, or that he’s faced Pepe on more than one occasion, worries abounded that he’d be subjected to a barrage of dark-arts defending that would make Sergio Ramos blush.
If that’s the plan, they’re wasting their time. FFT has spoken to scouts, fans, ex-coaches and team-mates the world over – the Darwin Nunez they know is dedicated to the singular pursuit of providing for his mother, father and brother back in rural Uruguay. Such a quest is measured by goals and trophies among the elite, a symbiotic relationship that Liverpool hope can help them challenge Manchester City, despite a sluggish Premier League start. This is what Nunez lives for.
HALF CAVANI, HALF SUAREZ
Artigas is as far away from Montevideo as you can get without leaving Uruguay. Tucked in a curve in the Cuareim River on the country’s northernmost tip, the city depends on the waterway for the rich agriculture it sustains and the transportation it provides of precious amethyst and agate stones, mined nearby to export worldwide.
