Liverpool fans told to wait another two years to see best of Darwin Nunez

Liverpool fans have been told they will need to wait another two years to see the best of Darwin Nunez .

The Uruguay forward arrived from Benfica for a club record fee of $110million (£85million/€100million) in the summer of 2022, having wowed the Reds hierarchy with 34 goals in 41 appearances for the Portuguese giants that season.

That including scoring against Liverpool home and away in the quarter-finals of the Champions League , which all but confirmed his status as Jurgen Klopp's number one transfer target that summer. Two years down the line, however, and it's been a mixed time on Merseyside for the 25-year-old.

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Nunez scored a respectable 15 goals in his first season at Anfield , although perhaps more would have been expected from 42 appearances across all competitions. There were plenty of positive moments, such as scoring and assisting on his Premier League debut and netting in four consecutive Champions League fixtures, as well as grabbing a brace in the 7-0 demolition of Manchester United .

Last season was much better in terms of output, with the Uruguayan hitting double figures for both goals and assists in 2023-24 as Liverpool competed for the Premier League title, confirmed their return to the Champions League and won the Carabao Cup .

Making an impressive 54 appearances in all competitions, Nunez racked up 18 goals and 13 assists. Two of those strikes came in the 2-1 victory away to Newcastle United at the very start of the season, when the forward came off the bench in the 77th minute to score a quick-fire brace for the 10-men Reds.

Despite an improved second season in England, however, Nunez has still come under fire for his performances, mainly for the amount of chances he misses. Former Liverpool player Steve McManaman previously called him a "work in progress" .

Now, former Premier League legend Dwight Yorke has backed up those claims, saying that Nunez won't fully iron out all his mistakes until he's at least 27, when he's "fully matured". He said: "For someone of his ability and quality, he should be scoring a lot more, that's just an area that he needs to improve.

"How you do that is going back to the drawing board and put him in those scenarios and then work at it. Then he will find comfort when it becomes instinctive. Until you're about 26 or 27, you're not fully matured yet, you're likely to make mistakes until then."

Nunez arrived as a 23-year-old in 2022 and it's fair to say that he needed some time to bed into his new surroundings. Coming with such a high price tag on his head would have also added pressure, and Yorke believes anxiousness has affected his success rate in front of goal.

"He has all the attributes and he is still only 25 and still learning. All he has to do is train his finishing from different attacking positions and when they pop up in games he needs to be calm and cool and not so erratic," he said. "That comes from anxiousness but if he calms down, takes a deep breath he will become a much better finisher."

Yorke was speaking to BoyleSports ,who offer the latest Premier League Betting .