Premier League legends Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and Paul Merson have cast their opinions on reported Arsenal target Darwin Nunez.
The Uruguayan has been linked with a shock transfer to north London ahead of Friday night’s Premier League deadline, though Nunez has divided opinion during his time in England. And a trio of Gunners icons have aired differing views of the player over the past two seasons.
It was only back in April that Wright lampooned Nunez for a close-range miss when Liverpool ran out a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace. The South American fluffed his chance to snag a point for the Reds after snapping out a bouncing ball from a corner, failing to show enough poise under pressure.
“Unforgivable for a centre-forward to be that close, and hit the ball that hard instead of placing it and finding the spot,” said Wright at the time. “There’s a resignation to the fact that, oh I’ve scored. These are the moments you need to show composure, be calm in the box.”
However, it was only one month prior that Wright staunchly backed Nunez following a 1-1 draw against Manchester City. The former England striker – who scored 113 goals in 213 Premier League games – voiced concern over Nunez’s habit of becoming “dispirited” when he doesn’t receive the ball but said the forward was too good to be ignored.
“I’d never take him off, especially at Anfield,” Wright told Sky Sports. “I would just tighten him up in those situations, I’d let him watch those videos and say ‘look at this, look what he can do’.”
Ian Wright and Thierry Henry have passed judgement on Nunez in the past
The praise came far more naturally for Gunners great Henry, who didn’t take long to rain plaudits on the former Benfica and Almeria star. It was only a few months after Nunez’s move to England that Henry told CBS Sports the forward reminded him of a certain compatriot who once reigned supreme at Anfield.
“Sometimes he will rush up a bit like Alexis Sanchez or a young Luis Suarez when you felt like things were bounding off of him and stuff like that,” said Henry. “But when you start to master what you’re good at, then you can control it better. And I think that will happen to him. I think he can do that.”
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Two-time league champion Merson falls on the same side of the Nunez coin and was baffled to see ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp omitting the player last season. Asked whether he’d have the fiery forward in his XI, Merson told Sky Sports: “Any time. A nd I say that because he doesn’t hide. He never hides.”
“The biggest compliment I can give him – people miss chances and you see them never getting in the box. The balls go down the wing and they’re on the edge of the box waiting for a pull-back. Even there when he’s already hit the post three times and missed a penalty, he’s still getting in there for that header. He’s the one who’s busting a gut to get in there. You hope it works for him.”
