Not Nunez: Liverpool sold £65m "monster" who was their own version of Isak

da fezbet： The storm of the summer transfer window has passed, and Liverpool are now enjoying a welcome period through calmer waters as the first international break of the campaign takes centre stage.

da blaze casino： Some might feel that the break came at the right time for Arne Slot’s Liverpool, who won the Premier League so confidently last year but have since undergone significant upheaval, something that showed across the opening matches of the campaign.

Liverpool produced a display of much greater solidity when beating Arsenal 1-0 at Anfield last weekend, and it’s worth stressing that while this new iteration of Redmen have their detractors, they have claimed nine points from nine and added Alexander Isak to their ranks on deadline day.

Some signing, that. Liverpool fought tooth and nail across many weeks to sign the 25-year-old marksman, but they secured their quarry and have scored a major upgrade on Darwin Nunez.

Why Liverpool signed Isak

Liverpool entered the summer transfer window with a single-track mind: they needed to sign an elite striker to lead Slot’s line.

It had been anticipated for a while that Nunez would be sold. The Uruguayan striker had struggled to kick on in Red across his three years at the club, with only 25 Premier League goals scored over his three campaigns, missing 53 big chances, as per Sofascore.

Nunez – Liverpool Stats

Competition

Apps

Goals (assists)

Premier League

95

25 (16)

Champions League

17

5 (1)

Carabao Cup

13

2 (6)

Europa League

10

5 (1)

FA Cup

7

2 (2)

Community Shield

1

1 (0)

Data via Transfermarkt

For such a staggering transfer fee, initially £64m with a view toward an £85m total package, Nunez flattered to deceive. In fact, Liverpool never forked out the full sum, for the forward never hit his stride.

It bears testament to sporting director Richard Hughes’ skill that he sold Nunez to Al Hilal this summer in a deal rising to £57m.

And now Liverpool have signed Isak. The Sweden international has linked up with his countrymen over in Scandinavia and will no doubt relish the chance for this sojourn ahead of his new chapter on Merseyside.

It was an unsavoury transfer saga, to be sure, but one which ended in joy for Liverpool. Along with Hugo Ekitike, the Anfield side have landed a big upgrade at number nine, with Isak in particular capable of blitzing his positional competition over the coming years.

While everything has worked out now, Liverpool did actually have an original version of the Swede in their ranks before, but they sold the Premier League star for a comparatively small fee.

Indeed, Dominic Solanke never found his footing at Liverpool.

Why it didn't work out for Solanke at Liverpool

Liverpool signed a 19-year-old Solanke on a free transfer from Chelsea in 2017, and he went on to make 27 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side, scoring his first and only goal on the final day of the 2017/18 Premier League season.

Liverpool did well to turn a big profit on the youngster, selling him to Bournemouth for £19m. This move proved instrumental for the England international, who honed his skills across the first and second tiers and eventually earned himself the big-money move he had been touted for all those years earlier.

The 27-year-old joined Tottenham Hotspur from Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth for a club-record £65m fee in 2024, coming off the back of a remarkable 19-goal campaign on the south coast, underscoring his improvement from talented hopeful to reliable Premier League frontman.

While it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Solanke since earning his switch to the capital, with injuries limiting him last season, he has established himself as a talented and versatile central striker, described as a “pressing monster” by reporter George Sessions.

In this way, he might be something like Isak, who was hailed last year as being “the best all-round centre-forward” in the league by pundit Ally McCoist.

Isak might not have kicked a ball for Liverpool yet, but he’s the benchmark, all right. Having proven himself over the past three years in the Premier League, it’s inconceivable that he would fall by the wayside.

Solanke, deceptively fast and just as powerful, isn’t in the same bracket, but he plays in a way that Liverpool have shown time and time again in recent years as being their stylistic preference at number nine.

FBref’s statistical data reveals that Solanke ranks among the top 17% of forwards across Europe over the past year for assists per 90, with his ranged approach to his game offering similarities to players such as Isak and Nunez (minus the latter’s profligacy).

That said, rarely have we seen Solanke chalk up numbers of the same calibre as Isak, with his dynamism lending itself to a fluid attacking role, but the jury still out as to his goalscoring ability down N17, having posted 16 goals and eight assists across 48 matches for the Lilywhites so far.

If he can stay fit, Solanke might hit some rather fluent form at Newcastle this season, though, with the Danish tactician previously outlining his capacity to shape physical and athletic strikers into phenoms. Just look at Ivan Toney.

Ultimately, Liverpool might have once felt that they could have got more from the sale of Solanke, whose potential was always clear but whose circuitous journey to the top precluded a more linear route, but they won’t care now.

Even so, they missed out on millions, and having since paid a premium for a young Benfica prospect named Nunez, a bit more time invested in Solanke might have seen him become a star under Klopp and now Slot’s wings.

He has Isak-like qualities, after all.