In a recent report, The Daily Star revealed that Manchester United are trailing their rivals Manchester City in the race for Benfica forward Darwin Nunez. It is believed that Man City have a superb relationship with the Portuguese outfit which could derail the Red Devils’ attempts to land the promising striker.
Nunez’s Incredible Start To This Campaign
Nunez has proven himself to be a consistent goal-scorer for Benfica this season as he has been in red-hot form for them of late in front of the opposition goal. The Uruguay international has banged in six goals in seven matches for the Portuguese giants in this campaign across multiple competitions.
The 22-year-old has been productive with his contributions in the attacking third of the pitch after he averaged 2.8 shots, 0.6 key passes and 1.6 dribbles per game in the Liga Bwin. However, he needs to work on improving his accuracy when distributing the ball in the opposition half, as evidenced by his pass completion rate of 66.7% in the Portuguese top-flight (stats via whoscored).
Nunez has taken great strides towards improving himself over the past couple of months. Hence, any of his long list of potential suitors including Man United will have to arrange a big-money offer to acquire the services of the Portuguese forward.
Is Nunez The Right Choice For The Red Devils?
Nunez is a moderately-paced attacker who can use his robust 1.87m frame to hold possession up for his team. However, he needs to work on his link-up play as he tends to give away the ball cheaply at times in the opponent’s goal. The Artigas-born talent is primary a central striker but can even fill in as a left-sided wide player if required.
The Uruguayan striker can create a yard of space for himself to get a few shots in on-target. He has already begun to prove his value as a decent finisher in the final third. Thus, a striker of Nunez’s skill set and potential will be a good choice for Man United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to pursue in the future.
However, the South American sensation is still quite raw and might need time before he can feature for a top club like Man United week in week out. Plus, it is unclear whether he can cope with the physical nature and high intensity in English football.
Even then, Solskjaer should think about stepping up his pursuit to sign Nunez as he could be an ideal long-term successor to Edinson Cavani, whose contract at the Threatre of Dreams is set to run out at the end of this campaign.
