How Liverpool's new £85m striker grew up fearing for his life and defied abusive fans

Even as a skinny 13 year-old, there was little doubt where Darwin Núñez would end up. “I still remember the first time I saw him play,” says José Perdomo, the man who first discovered Liverpool’s record signing. “Darwin was taller than most kids of his age, very skinny – a player made for Europe.”

Perdomo, who had driven 450 miles through the night to see Núñez playing in a district game, immediately knew he had struck gold. “Over all my years scouting, I had never recommended signing anybody without watching them four or five times,” he recalls.

“But Darwin? No, he was different. I only had to watch him that day. As soon as his game ended, I went to talk to his parents because we had already taken his older brother, Junior, to Peñarol. We couldn’t afford losing any time. He was that special.”

The Darwin path to the top, however, was not without its bumps. Having been raised in a humble neighbourhood in Artigas, a small Uruguayan town next to the Brazilian border, his main concern was the Cuareim river. Whenever it rained heavily, the river would flood and take with it the few things those around had in their homes.

The Núñez family had little and Darwin would watch his mother Silvia Ribeiro collect bottles in the streets for money. She would sometimes skip meals to ensure that her children had something to eat. It became clear very early for the 22-year-old striker that football was the only hope of a better life for them.

Despite some initial hesitation, he ended up upping sticks and moving to Peñarol, the Uruguayan big-hitters in Montevideo. By the age of 16, he was already taking part in first-team training sessions.

Darwin brought his parents to live with him but then the worst happened; he tore his cruciate