Rio Ferdinand has drawn a comparison between Darwin Nunez and a former Manchester United teammate and warned people to be careful about how they talk about the Liverpool striker.
Uruguayan Nunez has scored nine goals in 21 appearances for the Reds since joining from Benfica in the summer, but has had the spotlight thrown on the number of missed chances he has clocked up, particularly since returning from World Cup duty this month.
The 23-year-old has missed 12 big chances this season but BT Sport pundit Ferdinand was in no mood to join a pile-in on the big-money transfer and suggested his path could be similar to that of Nunez' compatriot Diego Forlan.
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Speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast, Ferdinand said: “We have to be careful when we talk about people like this. Do you remember, Diego Forlan? He couldn’t hit a barn door at Old Trafford. He scored against the Scousers. But he couldn’t hit a barn door.
"He goes away and I think he wins the European Golden Boot. I think once or maybe twice. He becomes a great player. A great player for Uruguay and the various clubs he represented. I think Nunez has got something. What I like about him is that he is getting the chances. I would be more concerned if he wasn’t getting the chances. He’s a young player. He is growing into the game. It’s a new league. I think there is more to come from him.”
Nunez had a big part to play in Liverpool's sluggish 2-1 victory over Leicester City on December 30. After outrunning the Foxes' defence, his dinked finish came back off the post before being bizarrely bundled into his own net by Wout Faes - the centre-back's second own goal of the evening.
Last week, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp defended his forward star by insisting that more composed finishing would come with time. Speaking in his pre-match press conference before the Leicester match, Klopp said: "Are we working on it? Of course we are. It's more about talking and to stay relaxed in these moments.
"He is an exceptional talent. Really exceptional. The rest will come. That's how it is. We're talking about it pretty much every day and sometimes things need a little bit of time, but it can go like this [clicks fingers] in football. You hit an incredible goal and all of a sudden you calm down.
"I've seen so many world class strikers in moments when the world was judging them, but if you have quality and the right attitude everything will be fine and that's the case with him."
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