Kylian Mbappe? Thank GOD Liverpool bought Darwin Nunez instead

Liverpool dodged a £166m bullet and landed a proper striker instead. We love our Darwin.

Kylian Mbappe is not enjoying a productive first season at Real Madrid. That much is clear and has been for a few weeks now.

Real struck a £166m deal all-in to sign Mbappe but talk quickly turned to regret. The Frenchman doesn't seem to fit and even if you think he does, his presence offsets the rest of the team.

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He plays largely the same role as Vinicius Jr., after all. And with both in the team, where is room for both Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes?

Then there's the bigger problem - his defensive work. As pointed out by Relovo, Mbappe ran just 8km in the 4-0 defeat against Barcelona. Players typically run at least 10km, especially in a big game like that.

Pressing, sprints in behind, overall movement - all should lead to your highest figures of the season against a team like Barcelona. That was not the case for Mbappe.

Now he's being criticised, with claims in the report that Bellingham feels his teammate deliberately waits for the ball to pass him so he doesn't need to press anymore.

How anti-Liverpool is that?

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez

You know who does put the work in? Darwin Nunez.

He's essentially the striker Liverpool signed after it became clear they couldn't land Mbappe. The Reds did try to sign the Frenchman, though.

A recent report from L’Equipe in France claimed a deal was practically in place. At the very least, Mbappe has openly admitted he held talks with Liverpool.

That didn't come to pass and in 2022, Liverpool signed Nunez instead. He's had a mixed time of things and certainly hasn't been the player we thought he was.

Instead, Nunez has been pretty unreliable in terms of scoring goals. Everything else, however, has been fantastic.

But it's recent weeks that give real reason for excitement. Nunez has been a pressing machine, with his energy on and off the ball providing tonnes for Liverpool.

He looks more and more like an ideal centre-forward for Arne Slot's system. Not necessarily one who's scoring efficiently but we have Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota for all that.

Nunez is improving the team in other ways - he was clearly the best outfield player in the first half against Brighton on Saturday. That was from his energy levels.

Mbappe wouldn't bring that and we're certain he'd look like a misfit in this team, too. Real Madrid are seeing just how negative that is this season.

Nunez looks like a perfect fit, on the other hand. And one who should only get better.

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