Darwin Nunez is 'tailor-made' for big Liverpool rival as transfer claim emerges

Darwin Nunez left the Premier League last year to join Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League, but a former Liverpool star thinks a move to London would have suited the striker

Darwin Nunez left Liverpool to join Al-Hilal(Image: 2026 Getty Images)

Former Liverpool player Didi Hamann believes that Arsenal should have signed Darwin Nunez instead of Viktor Gyokeres last summer.

The Gunners signed Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon in the hope that the Swede would prove to be the final piece in the jigsaw in their hunt to win the Premier League after three successive second-place finishes. Gyokeres has not carried his Sporting form into the English top flight, netting six times in 22 appearances, with only one of those goals coming against a team that is currently above 16th place in the standings.

As Gyokeres arrived in England, Nunez was leaving the country to join Al-Hilal from Liverpool – but ex-Red Hamann believes a move to North London would've been more suitable.

"I thought last season everybody was having a go at Darwin Nunez, but I thought Nunez would have been tailor-made for Arsenal, a team that creates many chances," Hamann told CasinoBeats.

"For all his faults, and for all his easy chances he missed, Nunez always occupied two or three defenders with his physicality and his pace.

"If he could finish, he’d probably be the best player in the world. But I think for Arsenal, he would have been a much better fit than Gyokeres."

Hamann went on to question whether Gyokeres is the man to get Liverpool over the line in the title race, adding: "I don’t think he’s one of the top strikers in Europe.

"I think he’s a goal scorer, but then again, I don’t think a goal scorer against the best teams is enough because I don’t think he will get into positions where he can score.

Viktor Gyokeres is yet to show his best form at Arsenal(Image: Getty Images)

"They brought Gyokeres in as the center-forward, but I don’t think he’s good enough. Whether that will be the deciding factor in the end, I don’t know, but at the moment, it certainly didn’t help Arsenal.

"We saw Gyokeres at a few clubs before Sporting, and I’m just not sure whether he’s got the ability to play against the best defenders in Europe and in the Premier League.

"It takes something more to even get into positions where you can finish against players like this, and obviously, you have to finish chances too. It’s a very physical game, and sometimes it can wear you out.

"If you do get a chance after 70 or 75 minutes, maybe you lack that bit of energy and concentration, and you miss it.

"In Portugal, he didn’t have to do too much work going backwards, and maybe that could have saved him. Not every challenge was a full-on challenge.

"Sometimes we have to give players a bit of time because it’s a difficult game, but I’m not sure he’s got what it takes to lead the line for a club like Arsenal and take them to the title in all honesty."