Liverpool former director of research has explained why the club decided to recruit Darwin Nunez in 2022 over Alexander Isak.
Nunez joined the Reds from Benfica for a then-club record fee of £64 million, with add-ons potentially worth £85 million.
The next summer, Newcastle broke their own transfer record by spending £63 million to sign Isak from Real Sociedad.
The attackers have had contrasting fortunes in the Premier League, with Isak improving while Nunez appears certain to leave this summer.
Read Also:PSG’s Big Win Against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami Was Good News For Tottenham
Nunez has 40 goals in 143 outings for Liverpool, with 25 coming in 95 Premier League games.
Despite playing 109 matches for Newcastle due to injury issues, Isak has scored 62 goals for the club, including 54 goals in 86 Premier League games.
According to the Financial Times, Liverpool’s former director of research Ian Graham believes Jurgen Klopp’s rising influence over transfer activity at the club had a role in the Reds’ decision to sign Nunez over Isak.
Graham worked for the club from 2012 to 2023, assisting with data research to aid in transfer policy, and now works as CEO of Ludonautics, a sports advising firm.
He revealed how the recruitment team persuaded Klopp to sign Mo Salah over Julian Brandt in 2017, which proved to be a masterstroke.
Following victory in the Premier League and Champions League, the balance of power shifted, with Klopp reportedly pushing for Nunez’s signing in 2022.
‘Jurgen brought a lot of success to the club, so it’s reasonable that it went in that path,’ Graham added.
‘In 2022, he signed Darwin Nunez rather than Alexander Isak. If you look at the top young centre-forwards in Europe, both would be number one and two — or two and three — but [Erling] Haaland was headed to [Manchester] City and was out of our budget.
COMMENTS