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And yet, three years on, Nunez is set to leave the Reds after failing to convince at Anfield.

With the 25-year-old heading out the door, the Liverpool recruitment team are going back to the drawing board once again.

But as they reflect on where they went wrong with Nunez, there are warning signs that they could be about to make a similar mistake again.



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Ask Liverpool supporters who they would like to be signed as their new central striker this summer and many will say Alexander Isak.

Isak is on Liverpool’s radar for sure, but with Newcastle unwilling to sell and the Swede set to cost around £150m if he pushes to leave, the Reds may have to settle for second best.

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In the eyes of some, that is likely to be Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike.

Reports suggest Ekitike is available for around £67m this summer and Liverpool have been named as an interested party.

There’s no doubt that the Frenchman is a good player, and at 22 he still has time to develop and improve.

But Ekitike is not the finished article, not even close.

READ MORE: Arsenal look to have blinked first and handed Liverpool a big Alexander Isak advantage this summer

Liverpool paid big on potential with Nunez and were taught the lesson that there is no guarantee promise will ever be fulfilled.

As per Who Scored, Ekitike is underperforming his xG by a whopping 5.84 at Eintracht in the Bundesliga this season.

With Nunez well-known for his own wastefulness in-front of goal, Liverpool should heed the warning signs that they could be targeting another work in progress.

Nunez has actually been consistent up against his xG in the Premier League this term, albeit having only scored five goals from chances with a 4.86 conversion rate.

Back in 2021/22, the season before he arrived at Liverpool, the then Benfica man scored 26 league goals from an xG of 18.03.

But Liverpool must listen to the warnings from history and bring in an already proven striker who will take them to the next level straight away.


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