Graeme Souness says Klopp is treating one Liverpool player with ‘kid gloves’

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Graeme Souness has claimed that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been treating Darwin Nunez with ‘kid gloves’ as he struggles to adapt to the Premier League.

The Reds sealed an eye-watering £85 million deal (Sky Sports) to sign him from Benfica in the summer. He was meant to be the man who’d go toe-to-toe with Erling Haaland, but things just haven’t gone to plan.

Graeme Souness says Klopp is treating one Liverpool player with ‘kid gloves’

Nunez has scored just two goals in all competitions this season – one of them came in the Community Shield back in July. The Uruguayan has really struggled to get going and his red card against Crystal Palace just made things worse.

Klopp has had to manage him carefully since and Souness believes the German is treating Nunez with ‘kid gloves’.

He wrote in his column on The Daily Mail: “The few signings Klopp made this summer have not been ready to play a major part, which is understandable.

“At 23, Darwin Nunez is a year older than Erling Haaland but he’s had to be treated with kid gloves and brought on gradually. Every player is different, in that respect.

“Nunez said this week that he has been struggling to understand what Klopp is saying, as he deals with the language barrier. That certainly can be an issue for new players, though the top ones work it out very quickly.”

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It’s never easy for a foreign player to come into the Premier League and hit the ground running. Very few players do that, and Nunez failing to set the stage on fire early on does not mean he’s a bad player.

The Uruguayan scored 34 goals in 41 games for Benfica last season. He found the net against sides like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and even home and away against Liverpool, which shows he has got the quality.

Klopp’s right to treat Nunez with ‘kid gloves’ for now. He needs time to adapt and Reds fans must be patient and remember that he’s still only 23 years old.

Liverpool take on Arsenal at the Emirates tomorrow and it will be interesting to see if Nunez will get the nod from the start.