By Sam Coles

Sunday saw Liverpool thrash Stoke City 5-0 at the AXA Training Centre, with a first half hat-trick from a new-look Darwin Nunez.  ‘Darwin’s evolution,’ if you’ll pardon the pun, has come at the perfect time for the Uruguayan, regardless of whether or not he stays at Liverpool.

Should he stay, and remain in this pre-season form, Arne Slot will certainly have a headache after signing Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.



If he leaves, this form may give Liverpool the excuse to bump up his price tag and receive close to what they paid for his signature three years ago.   

Liverpool 5-0 Stoke: Darwin Nunez hits first-half hat-trick as Florian Wirtz features in training match	Darwin Nunez scores hat-trick in secret Liverpool friendly after Hugo Ekitike deal agreed	Florian Wirtz ‘debuts’ and Darwin Nunez scores hat-trick in Liverpool friendly win

The behind-closed-doors match also saw goals from both Rio Ngumoha and Federico Chiesa, as well as an impressive performance from Florian Wirtz, who donned the 58 shirt, his temporary pre-season shirt number.

Though Stoke are a much weaker side than Liverpool, it’s hopefully a sign of good things to come for the Reds.

 

Nunez has been heavily linked with a move away following a lacklustre season in which the Uruguayan only managed five Premier League goals.  A move to Napoli, which would have seen him link up with Kevin De Bruyne and Scott McTominay, fell through after Liverpool’s transfer demands were deemed too high.  A move to Saudi Arabia is still on the cards and The Reds will likely favour this due to the multitudinous amounts of money the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia are willing to spend.   

A less likely destination for Nunez is Newcastle United, who lost out on Ekitike to Liverpool but retained Alexander Isak.  SPORT BILD reported that there was interest from the Tyneside club but Fabrizio Romano confirmed that there have been no ‘concrete talks’ between the clubs regarding Nunez’s signature.  The club will likely look to offload him to help deal with FFP regulations but with lacklustre options up front, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Darwin Nunez at Anfield this coming season.   


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