While Mohamed Salah admits that “a lot of people don’t like” Darwin Nunez, Liverpool’s No. 11 has named the striker as his favourite teammate to play with.
Nunez is clearly one of the most polarising players in Liverpool’s recent history, with his status as the club’s most expensive signing ever only magnifying this.
But the No. 9 remains a popular figure in the dressing room despite his inconsistency in front of goal, with Salah a vocal admirer.
In a live Q&A held over Zoom on Saturday, the Egyptian was asked to name his favourite teammate to play alongside from the current Liverpool squad.
“It was Firmino, now I feel I generally like playing with Nunez,” he replied, in quotes translated on Reddit.
“A lot of people don’t like him but I like playing with him. I see [the Q&A host] keeps shaking his head not liking [my answer].
“I like playing with him in general. A player with different skills. Not a lot of people understand his game.”
Salah’s partnership with Nunez is evident on the pitch, but fans are understandably left frustrated by the Uruguayan’s wildly varying performances.
However, Salah has only been involved in more goals with three players – Roberto Firmino (36), Sadio Mane (32) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (18) – than Nunez in his entire career.
The pair have directly combined for 16 goals in 96 games together, with Nunez assisting Salah 11 times and the winger returning the favour on five occasions.
He is not the only high-profile fan of Nunez’s, either, with Luis Suarez full of praise for a player he worked closely with as part of the Uruguay national team.
“He, with the humility that he has, a very good kid, said ‘no, Luis, you’re the No. 9, I’m going to respect you when you’re not there if I’m going to grab it’,” Suarez said when offered his old shirt back after returning to the squad.
“Those are details that demonstrate the greatness and humility of a player who is going to be one of the best, if not [already] one of the best in the world today.”
Nunez is clearly something of a striker’s striker, if not a favourite among fans, which suggests there is more to the 25-year-old than perhaps translates to the pitch at present.
