The player that made Klopp swallow his pride! He chose the number of Anfield's beloved Kenyan

Now it's official: Darwin Nunez is the new player of Liverpool! The giant from Anfield Road tonight confirmed the most expensive reinforcement in the club's history.

The Uruguayan from Benfica was paid 75 million euros fixed plus 25 million euros through bonuses.

Tue 21:45: (1.40) England (4.90) Hungary (10.5)

"On the day when football will be based on spending 100 million on one football player, I will no longer be in this business. A football game should revolve around a group, not an individual. That's how football should work. Of course, you always want to have the best players, but it is much more important to have the best group of players. Other clubs can go and spend big money and take the best players but I want to do it differently. And I would work differently even if I could spend so much money", is the famous statement of Jurgen Klopp from the summer of 2016, a few days after Manchester United made Paul Pogba the most expensive player in the history of the Premier League.

Klopp later justified himself.

“Have I changed my mind? I did. I could not have imagined that the world would change so quickly," Klopp said.

Six years after the famous statement, Klopp had to swallow his words and his pride. He paid 100 million euros for a player. Officially, Nunez is still not the most expensive player in the history of the Reds, because his transfer is currently conducted only through a fixed part of 75 million euros. The arrival of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton was more expensive - 84.5 million euros. But that will change very soon because bonuses in Nunez's transfer are easily achievable.

Already after six games in the Reds' uniform, a bonus of 5 million euros is activated. After the 60th match, a new 10 million euros will go to Benfica. So, if everything goes as expected, the transfer will easily reach 90 million euros.

The remaining 10 million euros in bonuses are related to team success and individual performance, and the details are not yet known. Let us remind you that 20 percent of the transfer goes to the Spanish club Almeria, from which Nunez came to Benfica a year ago for 24 million euros. The Spaniards can therefore hope for at least another 18 million from Nunez.

Nunez has signed a six-year contract worth 160,000 euros a week. Liverpool have crossed some of its previous standards and limits when it comes to the arrival of big signings. For example, Diogo Jota has a salary of around 100,000 euros a week, Ibrahim Konate around 80,000, and Luis Diaz a little less than 70,000. Nunez will earn approximately 8.5 million euros gross per year through salaries - which is close to 4.5 million euros net per season.

The Uruguayan took the number 27 jersey in Liverpool, which was left for grabs after the departure of Anfield's hero, Divock Origi.

Nunez's transfer under these financial conditions was a surprise to many because Liverpool have well-filled positions in the attack with Salah, Jota, Firmino, Diaz, Mane, Minamino, Elliott ... But Klopp had a reason to react and grab the Uruguayan gem before his competition does. Mane is about to be transferred to Bayern, Salah could leave next summer, Firmino's peak is long gone, Minamino is not that class and is leaving. The famous attacking trio is on the verge of disintegration, and Klopp started working on the renovation a long time ago, and in the coming years, the striking trilling should consist of Diaz - Jota - Nunez.

Nunez experienced a goal-scoring explosion in the last three years and went from anonymous to the most expensive player in the history of Liverpool. The then Spanish second division team Almeria brought him in 2019 for 13 million euros as a 20-year-old from the Uruguayan giant Penarol after only two senior seasons. Only a year in the Spanish Segunda was enough for him to become the most expensive reinforcement of Benfica.

'Darwin is a 'kid'. He is only 21 years old. He still has a lot to learn about movement, realization, split-second decisions on the pitch... But that 'kid' will be the best centre forward in the world. Unfortunately for me, I will not train him for a long time. It's a short time before he becomes the most expensive sale in Benfica's history. If it weren't for this pandemic and economic crisis, it would have become so," said former Benfica coach Jorge Jesus after Darwin's first season in Lisbon.

He was right to a point. Nunez did not become the most expensive in the history of Benfica, but it did in the history of Liverpool. At a time when almost all the top players are armored with strong contracts or promised to other clubs (Haaland, Mbappe, Lewandowski, Kane, Vlahović...), Nunez was the best option for the Reds on the market. Expensive but the best. And there was no time to wait because rival Manchester United were also interested.

The Uruguayan especially impressed Jurgen Klopp in the clash in the quarterfinals of the Champions League when he shook the Reds' net in both matches.

'Extremely good looking boy. And a decent player. Really, really good. I knew that before, but now he played right in front of me, fought fierce battles with Ibrahima Konate. He was physically strong, fast, calm in the end. Good, really good. I always say in situations like this: if he stays healthy, he has a great career ahead of him," Klopp said at the time.

Liverpool fans hope that Nunez will be the heir to the fine line of Uruguayan strikers such as Forlan, Cavani and their former favorite Suarez.