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Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on February 19, 2025, will be remembered not for the Reds extending their Premier League lead to eight points, but for another glaring Darwin Nunez miss that encapsulated his turbulent Anfield career.

The Uruguayan’s failure to convert a golden chance in the 78th minute—skying Dominik Szoboszlai’s cutback over an open goal from seven yards—has intensified scrutiny over his future, with a summer transfer to Saudi Arabia or elsewhere now appearing inevitable.

Introduced as a substitute to inject energy, he instead compounded frustrations by wasting Liverpool’s clearest opportunity to win the game.

As Arne Slot later noted, Szoboszlai’s decision to square the ball rather than shoot created “an open goal chance,” but Nunez’s rushed left-footed finish betrayed the composure expected of a £85 million striker.

During the January 2025 window, Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr submitted two formal bids—the second exceeding £62 million—after holding “advanced talks” with the striker’s representatives.

While personal terms were reportedly agreed, Liverpool vetoed the move due to concerns about securing a replacement mid-season and their ongoing pursuit of silverware.

What did Robbie Fowler say about Darwin Nunez?

Speaking on TNT Sports after the game, Fowler believes the root cause of the issue is that Liverpool’s No.9 does not ‘think about the game enough’:

“People worry about Darwin Nunez because he doesn’t think about the game enough,” he said as quoted by Empire of the Kop.

“If you’re struggling for confidence, you’ve got to go back to basics, you’ve got to get the ball, you’ve got to touch it, and you’ve got to like give it five yards [away].”

“You don’t look and dally on the ball, waiting for someone to make a run so you can play in an unbelievable pass – play the simple things.”

“You always need to go back to basics and do the simplicity of being a footballer, what got you into the position of being a professional footballer.”

“And it’s a bad miss, it’s a really bad miss, probably up there with one of the worst we’ve seen this year,” he explained.

“I’ll try and help him out a little bit by saying Szoboszlai maybe should have shot himself, but you know, he’s played a great ball to him and he’s missed the target, criminally, from seven/eight yards – that can’t be happening.”

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