Luis Suarez opens up on Darwin Nunez chats after seeing something 'special' in Liverpool ace

Luis Suarez has shed light on his 'spectacular' bond with Liverpool star Darwin Nunez and how he first came to know about the Reds' forward. Currently, both players are representing Uruguay at the Copa America in the United States, with their first match against Panama scheduled for early Monday morning UK time.

Suarez, a former Liverpool striker now playing for David Beckham's Inter Miami, is a revered figure in Uruguay and holds the record as the country's top scorer with 68 goals. However, at 37, he no longer holds the starting position for his national team.

Since the 2022 World Cup, Suarez hasn't started a game for Uruguay and has only made one substitute appearance in the last 18 months. Nevertheless, his impressive tally of 14 goals and seven assists from 20 games since joining the MLS side earned him a recall for the Copa America.

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Nunez handed back the coveted number nine shirt to Suarez ahead of the tournament, but the current Liverpool forward remains the first choice for Uruguay. He enters the Copa America on a high note, having scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 friendly victory over Mexico, breaking a long dry spell where he netted just once in his previous 13 games for Liverpool.

Suarez, a role model for Nunez, has kept an eye on the young striker since his days at Penarol and didn't hold back in his praise ahead of the Copa America. Speaking to AUF TV and quoted by ESPN, Suarez endorsed Nunez, saying: "Today he is one of the best center forwards in the world." He added: "I love how he plays and I love watching him."

He also revealed that he's been in touch with Nunez since his breakout performances, recalling: "Since Darwin was in Penarol I had been talking to him, through someone else. There was a game in which he scored three goals that caught my attention. At that time it was said that he missed a lot of goals, but he also generated a lot.

"They criticized me for the same reason, but the important thing is that he always tried to overcome, he never gave up. I always saw special conditions in him. The forward has to be like that, the ambition, the desire to improve, the desire to get ahead of him.

"I had colleagues like Diego Forlan who always helped me a lot. I always chatted with him, I went into his room and he loved to have me come closer. He was always trying to improve, looking for advice. Darwin always came, approached me, trying to chat and ask me things to improve. He is a divine kid. For him to tell me that I am his idol is something spectacular.

"Since he arrived at the national team he told me that as long as I was there, the 'nine' was going to be mine. That is something that one values a lot because it is a very nice gesture. I come here to compete for his position. We all want to do our best to win the cup. Being here competing with him is something very nice."

Having moved to Liverpool from Benfica back in 2022 for a record-breaking fee that could rise as high as $107m (£85m/€100m), Nunez has scored 33 goals and accumulated 17 assists over 96 appearances. Suarez, prior to his departure for Barcelona for $82m (£65m/€77m) back in 2014, managed to net 82 goals and provided 29 assists during his three-and-a-half-year stint with the Reds.

Liverpool.com says: For all the potential that Nunez has, he is 25 this week and will need to realize that sooner rather than later. The pressure is on for him to have a good season where he makes another stride forward under Arne Slot. Hopefully, a positive showing at the Copa America can pave the way for that to happen.