Liverpool can bolster their attacking depth and their next generation in one transfer, maybe with the help of Darwin Núñez — and Ibrahima Konaté's contact book.
In 2019/20, when Liverpool were winning the Premier League, Darwin Núñez was playing in the second tier of Spanish football with UD Almería.
The Uruguayan scored 16 goals in 30 appearances for Mário Silva’s side, helping them finish fourth in the table.
Off the back of that impressive campaign, Núñez earned a £30.6m move to Benfica, and after two seasons with the Primeira Liga side, he would become Liverpool’s record signing.
Last year, another forward player made a name for themselves in the Segunda División. Villarreal loaned Álex Baena out to Girona, and he would establish himself as a key man, making 42 appearances, scoring five goals, providing seven assists and helping them win promotion back to La Liga via the play-offs.
Now back at Villarreal, 21-year-old Baena
has worked his way onto the radar of Liverpool, as well as Premier League rivals, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, according to sport
The Yellow Submarine, beaten by Liverpool in last season’s Champions League semi-finals, would like to keep him for ‘at least two or three more seasons’, but the situation is out of their hands.
That’s because the player has a release clause of €35m (£31m) in his contract. Villarreal want him to tie him down to a new deal with a higher clause, but if he knows English giants are interested, he may well hesitate. Liverpool used the same trick to land Ibrahima Konaté from RB Leipzig last summer.
Baena, who has the credentials to play across the front line, hasn’t actually started a La Liga game for Unai Emery’s side so far this season, but he’s still made a big impression as a substitute, scoring three goals in six appearances off the bench.
And he’s matched that tally in the first two Europa Conference League matchdays, following up a brace in a 4-3 win over Lech Poznań with another strike against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
In the words of talent scout Jacek Kulig, his start to the season has been ‘sensational’.
Watching the player’s highlights, the main thing that stands out is his outstanding dribbling ability. Baena’s change of direction is lethal, and he frequently uses pieces of skill to carve a path out of tight situations or away from challenges.
He’s able to beat multiple players in a single run, a testament to the variety of his moves (he keeps defenders guessing) but also to his almighty acceleration. It’s no surprise that defenders will often make a lunging challenge to try and stop him, and that could make him a magnet for fouls.
Baena likes to cut inside from either flank, which speaks to his comfort on both feet and should give suitors confidence in his positional versatility.
When he’s not running with the ball, he can pick out incisive passes too. Baena is able to play perfectly-weighted balls in behind opposition defences, even occasionally dinking the ball over them with a degree of impudence.
He can also fashion big opportunities for his team-mates with crosses, either by driving it low across the turf or digging it out from near the byline.
In short, both his vision and his execution are excellent when it comes to his passing game.
Similar to Luis Díaz, Baena also has spectacular long-range goals in his locker. Against Tenerife last season and Valladolid this, he whipped unstoppable efforts into the top-right from around 20 yards out, and against Real Oviedo, he watched a clearance onto his right boot and lashed it into the far corner. Think Allan Saint-Maximin against Wolves.
He doesn’t always generate immense power, but the precision alone is enough. He opened his account for the current season against Valladolid, for instance, by striding onto a lay-off and simply rolling it into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
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