Darwin Nunez seems to be falling out of favour at Liverpool though there has been reports circling as to why this may have been the case of late.
It has been reported in Portugal that the Reds would need to pay €5m to Benfica, once our No.9 makes his 50th top-flight start for the Reds (he’s currently on 49).
Arne Slot was approached with this story in his pre-Tottenham press conference and provided his own update:
“Do you always believe what journalists say? Sometimes you should, but sometimes it’s better not to believe everything that is written about players.
“So, it’s completely new to me and I’ve said many times that I’m working at a club here where it’s really nice to work.
“So, mainly sporting directors are judged by the players they bring in, for me it’s very important to have a great working environment, and I have that with with Richard [Hughes].
“So the last, last, last, last thing he would do, as I expect working with him for 10 months, is tell me, ‘if you play him, it would cost us this much and if you…’
“That, he would never, never, never do. So, I don’t even know it’s if it’s true, yes or no, because we never talk about that – he never interferes with a lineup.
“So, it might be true, but if a journalist says it, we have to [assess] if it’s true or not.”
It’s a timely reminder from the boss not to believe every story you hear and seemingly not about our forward in this instance either.
Arne Slot didn’t take much notice to the Darwin Nunez story
It’s positive to hear how much trust the Dutchman places on Richard Hughes, as they are clearly getting along well in what has been an impressive first season for the pair.
Although this story wasn’t exactly rubbished from the 46-year-old, it was clear that he feels he can make a call to start whomever he wants – without fear of backlash from elsewhere.
Given the stories circling around Trent Alexander-Arnold’s seeming imminent departure too, it feels like the advice from Arne Slot is not to believe everything you read.
You can view Slot’s comments on Nunez (from 11:36) via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
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