Darwin Núñez

General

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Darwin Núñez
Personal information
Full name:	Darwin Gabriel Núñez Rivera
Date of birth:	24 June 1999 (1999-06-24)
Place of birth:	Artigas, Uruguay
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position:	Striker
Club information
Current club	Liverpool
Number:	9
Youth clubs
	La Luz San Miguel de Artigas Peñarol
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
2017–2019 2019–2020 2020–2022 2022–	Peñarol Almería Benfica Liverpool	014 00(4) 030 0(16) 057 0(32) 033 0(11)
National team
2018–2019 2019 2019–	Uruguay U20 Uruguay U22 Uruguay	014 00(4) 004 00(1) 016 00(3)

Darwin Gabriel Núñez Rivera (born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Liverpool and the Uruguay national team.

Club career

Peñarol

Núñez was born in Artigas, Núñez joined Peñarol's youth setup in 2013, aged 14. His first stay lasted only months, but he subsequently rejoined the club in 2014, and finished his formation.

Núñez spent the first months of 2017 nursing a knee injury. He made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 22 November 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in a 2–1 away loss against River Plate Montevideo, but had another knee surgery the following month.

Núñez scored his first professional goal on 13 October 2018, netting the opener in a 2–0 home defeat of Fénix. On 14 July 2019, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 routing of Boston River.

Almería

On 29 August 2019, Spanish Segunda División side UD Almería announced the signing of Núñez on a five-year deal, for a rumoured fee of US$4.5 million plus $1.5 million in variables. He made his debut for Andalusian side on 3 October 2019, coming on as a 46th minute substitute for Lucien Owona in 4–2 league defeat against Sporting de Gijón.

On 27 October 2019, Núñez scored first goal for his new club in a 3–2 league win against Extremadura UD.

Benfica

On 4 September 2020, Portuguese club Benfica signed Núñez on a five-year deal for league record transfer amount of €24 million.

Liverpool

On 13 June 2022, Benfica announced that Núñez has agreed to join Liverpool on a six years contract, deal signed for 75 million euros fee plus add-ons to reach €100m package.

International career

Núñez is a former Uruguay youth international and was part of under-20 team squad which finished third in 2019 South American U-20 Championship and reached pre-quarters of 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was also part of under-22 team squad which finished fourth at 2019 Pan American Games.

His performance with youth teams earned him a call-up to senior team for friendlies against Costa Rica and the United States in September 2019. He made his international debut following month on 16 October in a 1–1 draw against Peru. He replaced Brian Lozano on 75th minute of the game and scored his team's only goal five minutes later.

External links

• Darwin Núñez profile at Soccerbase
• Darwin Núñez Liverpool profile

Uruguay – 2022 FIFA World Cup – Group stage

1. Muslera 2. Giménez 3. Godín (c) 4. Araújo 5. Vecino 6. Bentancur 7. De la Cruz 8. Pellistri 9. Suárez 10. de Arrascaeta 11. Núñez 12. Sosa 13. Varela 14. Torreira 15. Valverde 16. Olivera 17. Viña 18. Gómez 19. Coates 20. Torres 21. Cavani 22. Cáceres 23. Rochet 24. Canobbio 25. Ugarte 26. Rodríguez Manager:   Diego Alonso

Uruguay – 2024 Copa América – Third place

1. Rochet 2. Giménez (c) 3. Cáceres 4. R. Araújo 5. Ugarte 6. Bentancur 7. De la Cruz 8. Nández 9. Suárez 10. De Arrascaeta 11. Pellistri 12. Israel 13. Varela 14. Canobbio 15. Valverde 16. M. Olivera 17. Viña 18. Rodríguez 19. Núñez 20. M. Araújo 21. Martínez 22. Marichal 23. Mele 24. Olaza 25. C. Olivera 26. Ocampo Manager:   Marcelo Bielsa