Former Liverpool and Barcelona forward, Luis Suarez has taken to social media to congratulate his fellow Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez after the young star moved to Liverpool from Benfica.
In his message to the Liverpool’s recruit, Suarez told Darwin Nunez to continue scoring goals as he did during his time at the club.
Recall that Liverpool broke their transfer record to secure the services of Darwin Nunez from Benfica in a deal worth up to €100 million.
The 22-year-old Uruguayan forward finished the 2021/22 season with a total of 26 league goals in 28 games.
Nunez’s decision to join Liverpool this summer where he is expected to use the shirt number 27, means that he followed in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates, who both used the No.27 shirt during their A-days.
Also, Darwin Nunez’s choice to join Liverpool was influenced by Suarez’s impact at Anfield, where the 35-year-old has 82 goals in 133 appearances since joining from Ajax in 2011.
However, the older Uruguayan believes his goal record will not be safe for long and has urged Nunez to improve his numbers, via a message he shared on social media.
Responding to a post of Nunez holding a flask and a cup which he had captioned ‘Forever Uruguayan’, Suarez wrote: ‘I was the first one too! But I hope you come first to GOALS. Hug!!’ Nunez replied by saying, “It is an honor for me to follow in your footsteps, I hope I can perform like you did in Liverpool”.
Before now, Suarez told a Spanish journalist Gerard Romero on his Twitch channel that he had recommended Nunez to FC Barcelona during his days at the club but the Spanish giants did not pick interest in him.
‘I recommended Darwin to Barcelona when he was at Almeria. I have 15 years of international experience. I know a thing or two about forwards’, Suarez said.
‘I told them, “Pay attention to this one, he’s very good, he shows interesting things”. They told me he was at Almeria and that he was too young. But instead of paying now €80m, €90m or €100m, they would’ve paid €15m or €20m and have him there as a substitute.’
In his first interview after sealing his deal with Liverpool, Darwin Nunez said he would reach out to Suarez to advise him about coping at Anfield.
‘I’ve not had a chance to be in touch with him just yet, he said. ‘But I’m sure when everything comes out on social media, I’ll give him a call or I’ll send him a photo that I’ve taken where he’s there in the background in a picture.
‘I’ll send that to him and we’ll have a bit of a chat and I’ll ask him lots of questions so he can offer his support and help because he’s a real reference to me because he’s a Uruguayan footballer who made history at Liverpool. But, for sure, I’ll get the opportunity soon to call him and have a chat with him.’
