Attracting interest from Barcelona - Darwin Núñez: Benfica's next superstar
Barcelona have reportedly identified 21-year old Uruguayan international Darwin Núñez as a major transfer target as the Spanish giants continue their efforts to rebuild a squad that is currently in transition.
Darwin, who only joined Benfica in September 2020 from Spanish second division outfit Almeria for a club record 24 million euros, has already left a significant impression at Benfica, and he is widely expected to be the next major prospect to leave the Lisbon club in a big-money sale.
In fact, the expectation is that Darwin will break the astronomical departure record set by Joao Felix, whose high-profile move to Atletico Madrid for 120 million euros caught worldwide attention in the summer of 2019 - and based on the start that the two-time Uruguayan international has made at the Estadio da Luz, it is easy to understand why.
Darwin Núñez has not only been thriving in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, where he has one goal and five assists to his name in 6 league appearances having forged an impeccable partnership with German forward Luca Waldschmidt, but he has also made a startling start to his Europa League career, scoring 4 goals in just 3 outings in Europe’s secondary club competition.
Three of those European goals came in an away clash with Lech Poznan, his hattrick crucial in earning Benfica an important 2-4 victory in Poland, showing tremendous composure and movement to open his Europa League catalogue in a resounding manner.
His introduction to proceedings against Rangers in the following game was equally instrumental to Benfica, who looked set to suffer a damaging 1-3 defeat having been reduced to ten men following the early sending off of Nicolas Otamendi.
Nevertheless, Darwin Nunez was heavily involved in both goals as Benfica secured a dramatic point against their Scottish opponents to maintain their grip on top spot in their Europa League group, first latching onto a smart quick freekick in the 78th minute before rounding the ‘keeper and showing excellent tenacity to dart to the byline and find Rafa Silva in the box to tap home, before then making a defence-splitting run in injury time to burst into the box and beat Allan McGregor with a perfectly placed shot in the 91st minute of the game to snatch a point against the odds right at the death.
That goal ensured that Darwin has now directly contributed to 11 goals in 10 matches across all competitions for Benfica, averaging an incredible goal or assist every 72.8 minutes so far this campaign.
It is therefore no surprise that Barcelona have been paying close attention to the young striker, who they were showing interest in even before he made the move to Lisbon in the summer window - and their desire to sign him has seemingly been maintained after a stellar start to life in Portugal.
