This won’t have been an accident, of course. It is well established that the club have one of the leading analytical set-ups in the game, with astrophysicists and chess champions using their skills to exploit inefficiency in the market whenever possible. (Doesn't that sound amazing?)

 

Their advanced work will have helped Liverpool maintain their record of transfer success which stretches back half a decade or more. But relatively basic statistics can paint a very compelling picture too. 

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But the findings highlight that the club have secured two players of broadly similar quality to Haaland and Mbappe for a much lower total cost. 

The challenge for Jurgen Klopp will be to get such levels of performance from his numbers 23 and 27 when they are playing for the same team. They were the top two players in Portugal in 2021/22 for goals per 90 minutes but that was easier when they were each a key man on either side of the Benfica-Porto rivalry.

There is evidence that the Liverpool manager can keep more than one player at an elite level. According to Statsbomb’s data there were seven players who recorded at least 0.5 npxG and 0.2 xA per 90 minutes in the big leagues last season, and the Reds were the only club to possess two of them.

As Mohamed Salah was one (with Diogo Jota the other) and he will be at Liverpool next season, the chances of two further players reaching such heights for the club are slim. 

What matters for now is that both Diaz and Nunez have shown that they can be this productive and have performed at very similar levels to the two most highly rated young forwards in the game.

Source: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-erling-haaland-kylian-mbappe-24283856?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=exchange&tblci=GiDg1uvy0hZzT_EpvvivBd8OJ4hjHFN2W6vDT6gV0AFjBCDi3kUolp_E07aa-Lg0#tblciGiDg1uvy0hZzT_EpvvivBd8OJ4hjHFN2W6vDT6gV0AFjBCDi3kUolp_E07aa-Lg0