Darwin Núñez’s life story: as a child he had nothing to eat, now he’s the most expensive Liverpool player in history

Football sometimes writes beautiful stories and one more has just been written by a young Uruguayan. Darwin Núñez had a troubled childhood, but now he’s become the most expensive player in Liverpool history.

Darwin Núñez’s transfer to Liverpool is now practically a formality. Benfica have already officially announced the departure of their gem on their website, all that is left is a welcome to Liverpool.

The Champions League finalist will pay €80 million for the 22-year-old Uruguayan, with another €20 million available in bonuses. This will make Núñez the most expensive player in Reds history, something he never thought of during his troubled childhood.

“I almost always went to bed on an empty stomach because we had no money for food. But who went on an even emptier stomach was my mother. She always made sure my brother and I ate first. My mother sometimes went to bed without eating anything all day. I’ll never forget what she did for me all my life. And I’ll never forget where I come from,” the native of Artigas, Uruguay, recalled of his childhood.

Like for many young South Americans, one of the few paths out of poverty was to become a professional footballer. In 2013, Núñez got his first chance at Peñarol, but the then-14-year-old didn’t stay in the academy and returned to his family.

But life gave him a second chance and a year later he went on trial at the same club, succeeded the second time and joined the youth academy. When everything was turning for the better, another blow came. A family problem emerged, which has not yet been made public. ” You stay, you have a future, I’ll come home,” Darwin’s older brother, who played in the third league, told him.

Another hard blow

Thanks to his brother’s sacrifice, he was able to move on, but life continued to be unkind to Darwin. At the age of 16, he tore the cruciate ligament in his knee and didn’t see the field for a year and a half.

After returning from the injury, coach Leo Ramos called him up to the Peñarol first team. The youngster replaced Maxi Rodríguez on his debut, but his pain from the surgery persisted and Núñez finished the game in tears.

He therefore underwent another operation, this time on his kneecap. After these two difficult operations at such a young age, it was uncertain whether he would ever be able to continue his football career.

But Darwin showed tremendous inner strength, overcame the problems and made it to the 2019 South American U20 Championship. But there, despite high expectations, he disappointed. He missed a lot of chances, didn’t score a goal and faced a lot of criticism.

So much so that it even forced him to go to a psychologist to deal with the difficult situation. He later admitted that for a long time he only used his phone to make calls, as he couldn’t even open social networks.

He always had the quality, then when he added peace of mind, he travelled to Europe, first to Almería in Spain, where he netted 16 goals in 32 games in the second league, leading to a move to Benfica. There he scored 11 goals last year, and this year he had the season of his life, scoring 34 goals.

He earned his transfer to Liverpool and deserves it like few others. His family’s financial problems are gone now, but Darwin will never forget where he came from.

Source: MARCA