Former Liverpool forward Michael Owen has admitted that Darwin Nunez may never find consistency at Anfield - as he predicted that the striker is unlikely to "improve loads" in the future.

Having signed from Benfica in the summer of 2022 for an initial fee of £64 million ($81m), the Uruguayan's spell with the Reds has largely been characterized by mixed form. The 25-year-old, who remains the club's all-time record signing, has contributed 36 goals and 19 assists in 115 outings since moving to Merseyside.

Having fallen down the No. 9 pecking order during the final months of Jurgen Klopp's tenure, the striker found himself behind Diogo Jota in Arne Slot's thoughts during the infancy of his reign. However, an injury to the Portuguese star in late October allowed Nunez an unexpected route back into the starting XI.

• Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa injury status confirmed as Liverpool handed double boost

• Arne Slot outlines Mohamed Salah 'hope' as Liverpool boss asked about 3 big Liverpool contracts

Fast forward nearly a couple of months and the mercurial attacker has found minutes on the field easy to come by since then, albeit without supplying consistently in front of goal. In his 19 appearances so far this term, Nunez has manged to find the back of the net on just three occasions in all competitions.

The striker is currently experiencing a goal drought too - having notched just a single strike in his last ten outings. Moreover, Nunez has been on the receiving end of criticism for his wastefulness when it comes to converting chances of late, with glaring misses against Newcastle and Girona symptomatic of his recent struggles.

Now, former Liverpool marksman Owen has provided his judgement on whether he expects the forward to ever produce the kind of form in a red shirt that first earned him a move to Anfield. In an exclusive interview with Liverpool.com, arranged by AceOdds, he said: "No, I think I've come to believe in my mind that with Darwin, what you see is what you get.

"I don't think at his age now he's necessarily going to improve loads. He's got some incredible attributes and some attributes that you think there are a couple of gaps in his game. I think when I first saw him, I was incredibly excited to know not only what he is, but what he could become.

"But if I'm honest, he probably is what he is now," the former England man admitted. "If he was going to move to the next level and show improvements in those gaps, then I think we would have been seeing a lot of improvement now. I don't think he's regressing. Of course not. But I don't think he's improving at a rate of knots."

Owen added: "I think he's pretty much the same player that Liverpool signed. Still is a really valuable member of the squad, and will still get his fair share of goals. There was potential there to be an incredible player and while I don't think he's going to hit those heights, I do think he's going to be a valuable asset for Liverpool."

Meanwhile, Reds head coach Slot spoke positively about Nunez' contributions during his recent run in the side following the team's win over Girona in midweek. The Dutchman said: "For me he has impact If you only look at goals, he hasn’t scored the amount of goals he wants to score or we want our No.9 to score, but he does have impact in his work-rate.

"He is part of a team that is scoring a lot of goals and winning a lot, but of course as a No.9 you want to score more goals and that’s definitely what he wants as well. I also judge them on their work-rate and what they bring to the team [and] that has been positive until now, except for us and he himself wanting to score more goals."