Darwin Nunez is a Uruguayan professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for the English Premier League club Liverpool and the Uruguay national team. He was born on June 24, 1999, in Artigas, Uruguay, and began his football career in the youth academy of his local team, Artigas.
Nunez joined Montevideo-based Uruguayan club Penarol in 2016, when he was 17. He made his professional debut with Penarol in 2018 and rapidly established himself as one of Uruguay's most promising young players.
In the summer of 2019, Nunez signed for the Spanish second-division outfit Almeria, where he had an impressive debut season, scoring 16 goals in 32 appearances across all competitions. He quickly became a fan favourite and played a key role in Almeria's promotion to La Liga.
His move to Almeria arrived at the same time he earned his first call-up to the Uruguayan senior team and he scored inside five minutes of his introduction as a substitute against Peru in October of 2019.
Nunez's exploits in front of goal in the Spanish second-tier caught the attention of Portuguese giants Benfica, who paid a reported €24m fee to secure his services, making him the most expensive signing in the history of the Portuguese league.
After making 85 appearances and netting 48 goals during his fruitful two-year stay at Benfica, he attracted the attention of Premier League heavyweights Liverpool, who beat competition from rivals Manchester United to secure his signature, paying a club-record £85m to prise him away from the Eagles.
He has had a sparkling start to his Liverpool career with a hat-trick in pre-season, followed by a match-winning goal on his competitive debut against Manchester City, but is still settling into life in Merseyside on and off the pitch and has had his share of struggles.
Nevertheless, he will be a huge asset for Liverpool, and is destined to shine brightly in the near future given his high ceiling and undoubted poaching instincts.
What are the 13 things you absolutely need to know about the Liverpool striker?