‘Great impact, but he will get better’

JURGEN KLOPP hailed Darwin Nunez’s dream debut as Liverpool’s new club record signing came off the bench to help his side win the Community Shield.

Nunez was signed by Liverpool in June for an initial £64million from Benfica. That fee is likely to rise to £75m once he hits certain targets, but it has the potential to go as far as £85m.

The reports from Liverpool’s pre-season training camp in Austria have been that the Uruguayan will need a period of time to adjust to the way Klopp’s team play and it was no surprise he started among the substitutes for the clash with Manchester City.

But when Nunez was introduced just before the hour, he wasted little time in getting down to business. He should have scored five minutes after being introduced when Jordan Henderson put him through, only for Ederson to close him down.

It was clear to see that he was frustrated to let that opportunity slip but it did not bog him down and in the final 10 minutes, his header, which struck Ruben Dias on the arm, led VAR to award Liverpool a penalty, which Mo Salah scored, before he netted himself to complete the 3-1 victory. Klopp said: ‘He was good, really good. It was clear that he will get better with time, everybody gets judged on first sight, that is not helpful to anyone but it happens.

‘Both teams were not 100 per cent at their physical usual situation, but in the first few games we are not even close to the fitness levels and after the third ball he was completely killed and everyone judges that. But we are patient and we knew he could do good stuff.

‘I liked his impact and the impact from the bench was exceptional. Everyone who came on was important. Good game, we came back in the game and City had to run a lot and we finished the game off with nice goals.’

There is no question that the goal will lift Nunez’s confidence, something which Klopp recognised. It was an important day for him and also an important day for the team, who celebrated receiving the Shield, the club’s first success in this match since 2006, as animatedly as any trophy they have won.

‘They are special species, strikers, and everybody needs little positives,’ said Klopp. ‘For strikers that means goals or goal involvements. Darwin [did that] even without scoring the third one, but the goal is the icing on the cake so really pleased for him. You could see on his face and on the faces of all his teammates how happy the boys are for him.’

When specifically asked about Nunez again, Klopp flipped the conversation and paid tribute to the man who led the line from the start. He explained the importance of Robert Firmino and believes the 23-year-old must learn from the Brazilian.

‘That is the job to do [make an impact], not for four weeks pre-season but a longer period. This team has open arms for everyone that comes in and that is very helpful,’ said Klopp. ‘The first line I liked a lot how Bobby used the spaces and we kept City away from our goal.

‘Then they started controlling it and that was even harder work. There are ups and downs in the game, both teams fought really hard.’