Darwin Nunez has already become a cult favourite among the Liverpool fan base despite being a weirdly inconsistent player for them. The Uruguayan forward tends to convert some of the tougher chances to score clutch goals, but already has a compilation of embarrassing open-goal misses for the Reds.
Despite all his setbacks, Nunez personifies the kind of tough, proactive striker that Liverpool aspires to have. He never stops running on the pitch and can often get quite physical with the defenders to get one over them. That includes some acts of aggression and biting them with tough challenges to send a message across.
Some Liverpool fans believe that Nunez’s influence is also rubbing off on some of his teammates. This comes after Harvey Elliott got in a bit of a hilarious scuffle with Serbian winger Petar Ratkov in England U21’s recent 3-0 win over Serbia U21 in a UEFA Euro U21 qualifying clash.
Just towards the end of the first half, Harvey and Ratkov nearly came to blows after being involved in an aggressive challenge. They butted heads for a while before the two were separated, after which Elliott went on to mock his opposition player with a hilarious expression.
Ratkov was trying to warn him to back off with his finger pointed at him and warned him to back off. Elliott used that to mock him by pointing his finger at him and doing this bizarre expression.
Some fans believe that staying too much alongside Nunez on and off the pitch for Liverpool has helped Elliott unleash the inner thug in him. There is a feeling that the Uruguayan forward has helped some of his teammates become braver in confronting players troubling them with constant fouls.
Nunez loves to assist goals for Mo Salah in a Red shirt, having assisted 4 of his goals so far this season. But some believe that he’s also helped the Egyptian forward stop being Mr. Nice Guy all the time on the pitch and take the fight to opposition players hassling him.
Salah seemingly lost his composure for a bit in Egypt’s 2-0 win over Sierra Leone and butted heads with an opposition player during a moment. Some fans believe that Nunez is using his street fighter mentality to urge his teammates to stand up to opposition aggression and never back down from a fight.
It’s not that Nunez actively looks for a fight during matches, but he isn’t one to be bullied by anyone. He loves to step up and go toe-to-toe with any defender that tries to rattle him up.
The Uruguayan has brought more aggression and personality to the Reds’ frontline, inspiring his teammates to find their inner beast.
Nunez is also enjoying a prolific start to the 2023/24 season for club and country. He has already contributed 13 goals (7 goals, 3 assists) in 15 appearances for Liverpool and also scored a great goal to help Uruguay end Argentina’s unbeaten streak in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The Uruguayan has found his inner beast too and will look to maintain his impressive run to end the campaign with 25+ goals for Liverpool.