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Full profile and background of Liverpool and Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez.
Darwin Gabriel Nunez Ribeiro is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Liverpool and the Uruguayan national team.
Nunez came through Penaro’s youth academy, being promoted to the first team in 2017. In August 2019, he joined Spanish Segunda club Almeria for a club-record fee.
Benfica signed him in 2020 for a club-record transfer worth £20 million, the most expensive signing in Portuguese football history.
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In his second season, he won the award for top scorer in the Primera Liga with 26 goals in 28 games, being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year and Primera Liga Player of the Year.
Darwin Nunez: Style of play
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Darwin Nunez is known for his explosive speed and proficient technical football ability. He is a right-footed player who possesses an athletic frame, excellent acceleration, and sprinting speed, with his explosive change of pace being capable of creating immediate separation.
He also has good awareness, he scans space and makes decisions when moving relative to the ball, space, teammates, and opponents.
Darwin Nunez is a disruptive striker with a dynamic range of mobility who can carry counter-attacks, make incisive movements around the box, and strike the ball explosively.
He is adept at attacking open spaces and is good at generating shots from varied situations. He is also a promising creator around the box and is also capable of playing as a left winger.
Darwin Nunez usually opts to rely on intelligent positioning and timing of runs in between defenders, especially in attacking the space between a fullback and centre-back at the back post.
He often makes adjustments to his footwork to find space in the box and he also uses his body either to avoid a foul, but forcefully enough to arrive at a cross ahead of his marker.
Darwin Nunez early years in Almeria
On 29 August 2019, Spanish Segunda División club Almería announced the signing of Núñez on a five-year contract, for a rumoured club record fee of US$4.5 million plus $1.5 million in variables. He made his debut on 3 October as a half-time substitute in 4–2 league defeat against Sporting Gijón.
On 27 October 2019, starting for the first time, Núñez scored first goal for his new club in a 3–2 home win against Extremadura with a penalty. He finished his only season at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos as the league's joint fourth top scorer with 16 goals, led by compatriot Cristhian Stuani.
Liverpool fans compare Darwin Nunez to Marcus Rashford after interesting revelation
Darwin Nunez: National team career
Youth career
Darwin Nunez is a former Uruguay youth international, and was part of under- 20 squad which finished third in 2019 South American U-20 Championship.
Nunez also took part in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring in the opening match, a 3–1 over Norway.
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He scored the opening goal in a 2–0 over New Zealand in the final group match, to help Uruguay finish top of Group C. His country was eliminated from the tournament following a 3–1 loss to Ecuador in the round of 16.
Nunez was also in the under-22 team that finished in fourth place at 2019 Pan American Games in Peru, scoring in a 2–0 opening win over the hosts
Senior career
Darwin Nunez was called up to the Uruguay senior team for friendlies against Costa Rica and the United States in September 2019.
Darwin Nunez made his international debut on 16 October in a 1–1 draw away to Peru in a friendly match, replacing Brian Lozano in the 75th minute of the game and scoring five minutes later.
In June 2021, Nunez was included in the final 26-man Uruguay squad for the 2021 Copa América in Brazil. Due to a right knee injury that would rule him out for two months, he missed the tournament.
Nunez was selected in Uruguay's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Uruguay were eliminated in the group stages of the tournament, after finishing below South Korea on goals scored.
Darwin Nunez: Move to Liverpool
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On 13 June 2022, Benfica reached an agreement with Premier League club Liverpool for the transfer of Darwin Nunez.
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On 30 July, Nunez made his competitive debut for Liverpool in the club's 3–1 win over Manchester City in the FA Community Shield at the King Power Stadium.
He won a penalty, which was converted by Mohamed Salah, and scored his first goal for the club with a stooping header in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
On 6 August, he scored his first league goal for Liverpool on his debut against Fulham, which ended in a 2–2 draw.
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The following game, he was sent off for violent conduct in a 1–1 home draw against Crystal Palace, having headbutted opponent Joachim Andersen.
On 12 October, Nunez scored his first Champions League goal for Liverpool in a 7–1 away win against Rangers.
However, Nunez received criticism during the first half of the season for missing a number of big chances in matches.
By his first 23 games for Liverpool, Darwin Nunez had scored 10 goals, one more than both Luis Suarez and Sadio Mané in the same number of games for the club.
On 18 February 2023, Nunez scored his first goal in the new year, opening Liverpool's 2–0 win home against Newcastle United, thus helping his club become the only team to defeat Newcastle twice during the season after a previous 2–1 victory at St. James' Park in August.
On 21 February, Nunez scored Liverpool's first goal in a 5–2 home loss to Real Madrid with a flick between his legs in the first leg of Champions League round-of-16,followed by a brace against Liverpool's arch-rivals Manchester United on 5 March.
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