Liverpool handed fresh Darwin Nunez verdict as Michael Owen sends clear message to Arne Slot

Darwin Nunez faces a summer of uncertainty once the transfer window opens and Michael Owen makes a strong point about the Liverpool striker

Michael Owen has poured cold water over the suggestion that Darwin Nunez could turn into something incredible at Liverpool. Nunez recently made the headlines' for all the wrong reasons when he spurned the opportunity to give his side the lead against Aston Villa.

The forward somehow cleared the crossbar from six yards following a pass from Dominik Szoboszlai. The match would end 2-2, and afterwards, Arne Slot delivered a strong rebuke to Nunez for allowing his standards to drop after the miss.

Since then speculation has emerged linking the forward, who moved to Anfield from Portuguese side Benfica on a six-year deal for an initial £64m back in 2022, with a move away from the club. And Owen believes it is very much a case of what you see is what you are going to get from the 25-year-old.

He said: "In Darwin Nunez’s first season, I was 50/50 over whether he was going to be an incredible player or someone who is always going to be a frustrating player who could do more.

"There's a very good player, of course, but not somebody that's going to now be ranked among the world's elite strikers. It’s frustrating because you see parts of his game that you just think, wow, that's just incredible.

"But then you see parts of his game that you think, wow, that should have been taught to you when he was 10 or 12. That's the strange thing about his game."

Owen was speaking to BoyleSports, who offer Cheltenham betting, and said: "He does things that you can't teach people and then he doesn't do things that should be very teachable. My assessment now is that what you see is what you get.

"I've been open-minded for a good while thinking this kid could be developing into something incredible. Now I don't think that will be the case.

"He is a very good player, a big asset for Liverpool, but I just think what you see is what you get now."