Darwin Nunez: Latest Sensation But is He Worth The Hype?

Every season we see a new player emerge. It can be a anyone from a goalkeeper to a forward. But the most usual case is a small time club forward taking it on in the big boys league. For instance, the champions league. Over the years, this tradition has given us many outstanding players. Ranging from legends like Didier Drogba to modern day strikers Erling Haaland, Timo Werner, midfielders and defenders like Frenkie De Jong and Eduardo Camavinga. Following in the same tradition this year we have a new sensation. Darwin Nunez. Yes that adequately tall looking guy from Benfica. Nunez is getting a lot of hype and according to various sources, clubs are scouting him. Time to disect on whether he's worth the rumored 75 million euros or not.

Well sadly, Nunez isn't your proper forward who can play with the team and link up. I'm talking about possession based football. Nunez is better at counter attacking systems. Because his number of misplaced passes are alarmingly high and if you try to make him play possession, you might concede a counter evey now and then. His number of misplaced passes is actually so much that it might alone give several clubs a reason to think twice before cashing in for him. Okay, you're playing in counter attacking style. You don't care about passing. You need your forward to make runs in behind the opposition defense and outpace the defenders and score. Well, to run well you need a good strat right? Nunez is very prone to being offside. This is what we've seen with Timo Werner, if you add up his offside goals with his legal ones, he might run for golden boot. Nunez also has a similar offside record. This mane offsides can be harmful for a team when margins are desperate. He's doing well in Benfica because in the Portuguese league he gets enough space in between the midfield and defense, from where he can start running. But as we all know, big teams don't let that space exist easily. In that case maybe you can ask your forward to just head the ball in, we cross it into the box, you head it home. Now let me disappoint you again. Despite being adequately tall and buffed, Nunez's heading track record is bad too. He has a few goals only by heading.

Don't get me wrong because I don't have any personal vendetta against this player. Of course he is a very good striker. If I'm not wrong he has score some 25+ goals this season in all competitions. And that is not bad. But what I'm emphasizing on is this, when you move to a top European club, the expectations are sky high. Many get squashed under that heavy weight of expectations. And this shortcomings can become costly. I believe if he moves to a rather mid table club, he can use it as a platform and grow even more. Then he can move to a bigger club and take on the world. After all, he is only 22, still a lifetime ahead.