Primary Position – Centre-Forward

Other position(s) – Left Winger / Second Striker

Last season’s form – Games 28 / 26 goals 4 assists

Born in Artigas, Uruguay in June 1999, Núñez came through Peñarol's youth academy and was promoted to their first team in 2017. After 14 appearances over two years he joined Spanish Second Division side Almeria in 2019 where he scored 16 goals over 30 appearances. He signed for Portuguese giants Benfica in September 2020 for €24 million, the most expensive signing in Portuguese football history. He contributed five assists in his first four league games and scored his first goals for the club with a hat-trick against Lech Poznań in the Europa League. He contracted COVID in November and struggled with the after-effects of the virus, leading to a barren spell of four months without a goal. His six goals and ten assists were still enough to help Benfica qualify for the Champions League next season.

Núñez missed the start of the 2021/22 season due to knee surgery over the Summer but He hit the ground running on his return with back-to-back braces in September which led to him being awarded the league's Player of the Month and Forward of the Month. He followed this up with consecutive hattricks in November, only the seventh player in the Portuguese league to achieve that feat. His goal against Liverpool at Anfield made him Benfica's all-time top scorer in modern Champions League history and he ended the campaign as the Portuguese league’s top scorer with 26 goals in 28 league games.

Standing at six feet two inches tall, Núñez offers Liverpool a physical presence up top which they have lacked under Klopp. He scored five headed goals last season, which is more than anyone in the Premier League managed (four). He averaged 76.5 minutes per goal, 23.4 minutes per shot and 66 minutes per chance created which is comparable with the likes of Salah (121 mins per goal, 20 mins per shot and 45 mins per chance created). What really stands out is his goal conversion rate of 30.8% with no Premier League forward getting close to that number last season.

The numbers would indicate that Núñez is very much a traditional centre-forward but he is capable of playing on the left flank as well where he has a tendency to cut inside and play like an inverted winger. With Mané likely departing, the left-wing spot will likely be occupied by Díaz which would leave Núñez competing with Jota and Firmino for the centre-forward berth early on. Klopp generally likes to give his new signings time to bed in and get used to his philosophy but he has thrown marquee signings into the fray straight away as seen with Salah and Díaz in the past. Núñez certainly increases the appeal of the Liverpool fullbacks Alexander-Arnold and Robertson with his aerial ability, a wait and see approach is suggested early doors in FPL to see if the Uruguayan can hit the ground running and preseason form will be worth monitoring.

The Editor @FPLEditor