Liverpool boss Arne Slot provides telling update on Darwin Nunez after pre-season absence
Arne Slot has revealed that he did not want to risk Darwin Nunez in Liverpool's clash against AC Milan. The striker was left out of the Reds' friendly clash in Hong Kong, and continues to recover from an injury.
The Uruguay international, who has been linked with a move away from the club this summer, could only watch on from the sidelines on Saturday, with his absence from the squad leaving some room for speculation. The ex-Benfica star was deemed unavailable alongside Luis Diaz, who has been linked with a possible move to Bayern Munich.
But whereas Slot conceded Diaz's lack of involvment came as a result of transfer speculation, the Dutchman was keen to highlight how Darwin had already impressed this summer. Liverpool's boss focused on ensuring Darwin was ready to enter the season match-fit rather than the prospect of any transfer.
The striker's situation was likened to that of Wataru Endo. Slot expects both players to be available to feature against Yokahoma FM in Japan on Wednesday.
'In Darwin's situation, he has trained really well and played a few good games for us already this pre-season," said Slot. "He was injured so we didn't want to take the risk.
'It was also the same with Wata (Endo) — trained with us all week but we didn't want to take a risk with him either. It is part of pre-season, the boys need to get towards match fitness and that is a thin balance, a thin line sometimes.
"In this situation we thought it was smarter for Darwin and Wata to sit it out today but I assume they will be with us when we are in Japan for the next game.'
The situation is somewhat different for Diaz , who Liverpool have decided not to play at this moment in time. "In Lucho's situation it was [linked to his future], yeah," Slot admitted.
"There are a lot of rumours around it lately and I cannot go into that. But he is training really well with us and we have decided, for now, not to play him yet.
Slot added: "Yes [I've spoken to Diaz] but I am used to talking to most of my players on a regular basis. Like I said, Lucho is training really well but we've decided that he is best not playing at the moment in the games and I cannot comment much more than that. Does he want to leave? I am not the person to ask."
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