Liverpool have identified their Darwin Nunez UPGRADE

Liverpool have their eyes on the player who could replace Darwin Nunez in their squad. The Uruguayan is one of the few struggling under Arne Slot.

No player flatters to deceive quite like Darwin Nunez. The striker arrived at Liverpool full of promise and you could instantly see the potential there.

READ MORE: Liverpool prefer Trent Alexander-Arnold to LEAVE than break FSG rule

Absolutely rapid, strong, direct, he'll run with the ball, he'll try things, his work rate is phenomenal; once it all clicks together, Nunez will be unstoppable. That's what we were saying back in 2022 when he arrived.

And it's what we're saying now. Nothing has changed, really, and it's becoming clear that what you see with Nunez is what you get.

There's not going to be any great improvement. In fact, he's slightly less effective under Arne Slot.

Now, we don't think that's Nunez's fault at all. He was just a little more suited to Jurgen Klopp's system than Slot's. Ultimately, though, the main problem is the same - he can't finish reliably.

So sometimes you get an absolute worldie of a finish with his weaker foot. Then he'll miss the target from 10 yards.

Liverpool, then, are looking elsewhere - and it appears they've found their man.

Marcus Thuram vs Darwin Nunez

Liverpool reportedly like the look of Inter's Marcus Thuram. Though, to be fair, all of Europe should right now - he's one of the best forwards going this season.

13 goals already, along with three assists, and some of them have been magnificent. Thuram will have the best teams around thinking about him.

Especially as he currently has a £70m release clause in his contract. Liverpool are right to be tempted.

And we're far from the only ones saying that. Over at The Transfer Flow, they've jumped on the bandwagon after assessing both Thuram and Nunez in their newsletter.

Like Nunez, it's pointed out that Thuram is a wonderfully versatile striker. The running, the dribbling, the physicality - he's a complete handful up top.

But one really interesting point they make is in Thuram's aerial prowess being very strong. That's an area Nunez can come up short in, despite his height and strength.

The Frenchman is capable of converting some very improbable chances as a result of his heading. It's exactly the kind of 'minor' boost that can take a team's forward line from good to great.

Or in Liverpool's case, brilliant to spectacular.

The data on Darwin

Nunez's data this season isn't great. Not for someone leading the line, anyway.

For one, he's lost what made him so strong last season - being decisive. Football Critic track this data nicely, showing when a player makes a goal that decides the game.

In other words, if the goal changes the game from losing to drawing or drawing to winning and it stays that way that's a decisive goal. Nunez scored 11 in the Premier League last season and five of those were decisive. They directly won Liverpool points.

Five of them were the first goal of the game, too. Nunez was breaking the deadlock fairly regularly - but that's dried up this season.

He's done it just twice this season. In both 'categories' of important goals.

Thuram, we should add, was remarkably similar to Nunez last season. He had seven of his 14 goals across Serie A and the Champions League were decisive (again, per Football Critic). And again like his Uruguayan counterpart, those have dried up this season - just two.

But whereas Nunez provides few goals at all in this campaign, Thuram has pretty much matched his tally from 2023/24. He's a forward on the up, in other words.

So is Thuram worth it?

That's the big question. There's one major issue with Thuram - he turns 28 next August. Liverpool really don't like buying players in that age bracket, especially not for £70m. You don't get the long-term benefits.

The argument at The Transfer Flow is that while Thuram is of a certain age, the short-term benefits should be the focus. After all, Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah are win-now players and Liverpool should take advantage of their short window for winning major trophies.

Honestly, we'd go along with that. We're not sure Liverpool will (they're incredibly risk-averse, as we're seeing with the contract mess) but Thuram could really move the team up a level immediately.

READ MORE: Liverpool ready to ACCEPT £30m after rejecting opening offer