Darwin Nunez failed to meet the expectations his £85m price tag demanded. Despite arriving for a club record fee and impressing in the Community Shield last summer, his move to Anfield was overshadowed by Manchester City‘s new superstar arrival Erling Haaland.

However, by most other metrics his debut campaign at Anfield was encouraging. He scored 15 and assisted four during Liverpool‘s inconsistent season.

There is call for even more encouragement as far as Reds fans are concerned following the 24-year-old’s impressive pre-season. While netting four times in three games, Nunez has exhibited a considerable improvement to his build-up play and decision-making in attacking situations.

Nunez would not be the first player to deceive the footballing public with eye-catching friendly performances. In fact, 12 months ago his four-goal salvo in a 5-0 win against RB Leipzig added to the aforementioned excitement of his signing.

But with a year of acclimatising to a new country and footballing philosophy under his belt, can Liverpool’s new No 9 finally make the big splash many had expected?

Darwin Nunez has scored in each of Liverpool’s first three pre-season games this summer

Nunez inherited the iconic Liverpool number 9 jersey following the exit of Roberto Firmino

Jurgen Klopp has a host of quality attacking options at his disposal in the upcoming campaign

Competition for places in Liverpool’s front three will be fierce next term with Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez battling it out for a starting berth.

Klopp will undoubtedly face selection headaches during the campaign but will ultimately be grateful to choose between a raft of gifted attackers.

However, for each individual – with the possible exception of Salah – only near perfect performances will ensure a prolonged run in the team.

And that in large part will be down to their production in both attacking and defensive phases of the game, according to Klopp.

‘The ticket into the team will be the readiness to defend,’ the German told reporters after the Reds 4-0 victory over Leicester City on Sunday. ‘I’ve never heard about a team being really successful with sloppy defending. It doesn’t happen.’

Nunez is by no means a bad defender and he regularly lends his unparalleled speed to hunting down opposition players when possession is lost, but the ex-Benfica striker is not as impactful as his main rival for the central striking position, Gakpo.

The Netherlands international hit the ground running following his arrival from PSV in January 2022, showcasing a s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁set that would enable him to inherit Roberto Firmino’s false 9 role.

According to Fbref, Gakpo is in the 99th percentile for tackles per 90 (1.64), 85th percentile for interceptions per 90 (0.36) and 76th percentile for blocks per 90 (0.82) when compared to other forwards.

In contrast, Nunez ranks in the 45th, 50th and 52nd percentile in the three metrics and had just a 64 percent pass completion last season compared to Gakpo’s 76.

As a result, the Netherlands forward was often given the nod as the focal point of the attack with Nunez featuring on the left of a front three.

Liverpool trumped rivals Man United to the £44m signing of Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven

Gakpo scored seven goals after his arrival including a brace in a 7-0 demolition of Man United

This configuration worked most spectacularly in Liverpool’s 7-0 demolition of Man United in March where the two worked in tandem to devastate Erik ten Hag’s defence and each bag a brace.

But with the return of Diaz from a long-term knee injury many would expect the Colombian to slot back into the left-wing position he made his own during a startling run at the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

Like Nunez, Diaz has looked in fine form in pre-season after inheriting an iconic squad number this summer. While his return to first team action last term coincided with the team’s untick in performances.

Whichever way you slice it Nunez will have his work cut out to nail down a starting spot on a regular basis in the team’s current form.

At present, he and Jota would be the most likely candidates to miss out in their opening Premier League fixture against Chelsea on August 13.

Next term Liverpool are expected to play a 4-3-3 formation that becomes a 3-4-3 in possession as Trent Alexander-Arnold moves into midfield and forms a double pivot with the deepest midfielder.

The recent departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, the difficulty in finding a top class number 6 and the number of excellent attackers at the club, could see the Reds boss use a system first deployed against Man City at the Etihad in 2020.

In a 1-1 draw, Liverpool began with a 4-2-3-1 with Firmino in the No 10 position alongside Sadio Mane and Jota as Salah played up top. But with the ball the system became a daring 4-2-4 with only Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum providing cover to the defence.

Luis Diaz is now back to full fitness after missing a large part of last season with a knee injury

Diogo Jota has also turned in impressive performances this summer, bagging three goals

Thanks to a Kevin de Bruyne penalty miss the then defending Premier League champions left the Etihad with a point and though Klopp quickly reverted to his favoured tactic, nearly three years later it could offer the key to harmonising the imbalance of the current roster.

The Anfield club have two pre-seasons games left before their trip to Stamford Bridge against German opposition Bayern Munich and Darmstadt.

Klopp’s wholesale changes in each half of their previous three friendlies have been a clear indication of his focus on fitness but Wednesday’s game against the Bavarian giants could finally reveal his masterplan for the upcoming season.

After improving his link up play, defensive work and understanding of English – if snippets from behind-the-scenes training videos are to be believed – Nunez has put himself in position to be the number 9 in more than just name alone.