Darwin Nunez's tantalising highlights from 4-goal masterclass show what he can offer

Darwin Nunez silenced his critics with a four-goal masterclass for Liverpool on Thursday.

The 23-year-old is yet to make his first competitive appearance since moving to Anfield for £85 million and there has already been widespread criticism from rival fans in regards to his pre-season performances.

From jokes about misses in training to ‘highlights’ videos of his performances against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, Nunez has already had to put up with a lot since his Liverpool switch.

Unfortunately, it’s what comes with making a Premier League move as high-profile as his these days, never mind when it’s one that follows the exit of a club legend like Sadio Mane.

While the likes of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz could quietly arrive on Merseyside and work their way into the starting XI at their own pace, the expectation on Nunez right now is to hit the ground running as soon as possible.

And although we’ll have to wait and see whether that will be possible or not when the Premier League season gets underway, Nunez showed real, real promise with his performance at the Red Bull Arena.

That’s because the former Benfica striker raised two fingers to all the premature criticism by smashing no less than four goals past RB Leipzig despite only having come off the bench for the second-half.

Nunez finally broke his duck for Liverpool when Mohamed Salah allowed him to take a penalty, before doubling his money just seconds later with a one-on-one finish into the bottom corner.

The Reds’ record signing then showed off his penalty-box instincts by poking home his third and finally wrapped up a lucrative day’s work in stoppage time with a fourth goal that could well keep the Leipzig goalkeeper awake at night.

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