Jurgen Klopp has shot down speculation around Darwin Nunez’s Liverpool future.
Doubts over Nunez’s long-term fate were fuelled following last weekend’s win over Tottenham, during which the late substitute missed a gilt-edged chance to score.
The Uruguay international heightened talk of a potential exit by removing virtually all traces of posts related to his time at the club on his Instagram page within hours.
But Klopp is adamant that Nunez’s time with the Reds is not drawing to a close and believes that the striker is simply going through a difficult spell of form at present.
He said: “There’s no speculation [about his future]. There must be external speculation because I don’t know about it.
“I am not involved in that anymore but there is no speculation right now, it’s just the situation we are in.
“Darwin was definitely not happy missing that chance [against Spurs]. He was unlucky in so many situations, where he’s doing everything right, then the ball still doesn’t go in.
“It’s really tough for a young man. He knows about the expectations, he has big expectations for himself.
“He has to go through it. It’s part of a footballer’s career. That’s all.
“His problem is that he is that good that he is constantly in these moments. If he is a little bit less good, he couldn’t have chances then people would say he’s not great.
“How may goals did he score? Eighteen [overall] and 11 [in the league], not bad numbers.
“It’s just because of his quality that he is constantly in situations where everybody thinks, ‘Again, again.’
“And because of our situation as a team, if somebody else would score in that moment, people wouldn’t have felt that bad.
“Nobody likes it, but it’s part of a career. That’s it.”
