Jurgen Klopp's 'work in progress' comments show Liverpool have Darwin Nunez plan

It has been a hugely productive week for Liverpool, who have wasted no time whatsoever in getting their summer transfer plans into action.

Sadio Mane has not even left yet and his replacement is already through the door. On Tuesday Darwin Nunez completed what could eventually become a £85million transfer from Benfica. The 22-year-old striker was courted by several major European clubs but chose to move to Merseyside, in what promises to be an exciting move for Jurgen Klopp's side.

On the one hand, Nunez looks like a straight replacement for Mane, who is still expecting to leave Liverpool a year before his contract expires to join Bayern Munich. The German side have had two offers rejected by the Reds, but look set to return with a third.

On the other hand, Nunez's arrival can be viewed as a response to Manchester City 's purchase of Erling Haaland. Both are young, tall, goal-hungry strikers with huge potential. He may not have the ludicrous numbers which Haaland can boost, but 48 goals in 85 appearances for Benfica, including many in the Champions League, isn't bad going.

Nunez may still turn out to be both a replacement for Mane and a response to Haaland, but Klopp has already moved to temper the excitement amongst the fanbase by emphasising his new signing's relative inexperience.

"He has all the pieces we look for. He can set a tempo, he brings energy, he can threaten space from central and wide areas," Klopp said on Tuesday. "He is aggressive and dynamic with his movement.

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"He plays without fear, he's powerful. I know he will excite our supporters. It's important we all recognise we are getting a 'work in progress' with Darwin. He recognises that himself, for sure. I love how much focus and humility he has.

"We have wonderful attacking options already and he becomes part of that now. So there is no pressure on him at all. He signs for a very long time and we intend to nurture his talent and see it grow."

That is a very sensible approach from Klopp: excitement, but with a caveat. A transfer fee of £85m - which sees him overtake Virgil van Dijk as the club's record signing - inevitably comes with a burden of expectation. But joining a front line which already has Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino - players Nunez himself called "monsters" - means he will be given time to ease into his new surroundings.

Of course, huge transfer fees are no guarantee of success - just ask Chelsea, who have shelled out over £220m in the past few years to sign Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku. But Klopp's words upon Nunez's arrival should be reassuring. They say that Liverpool have a plan and a track record of delivering them.

Liverpool's two most recent signings before Nunez - Ibrahima Konate and Diaz - have both fitted in nicely and there is no reason to think Klopp can't do the same with the Uruguay international. It is a point former Reds striker Robbie Fowler made eloquently in his Mirror column on Sunday.

"If any manager is going to get the best out of Nunez, it is Jurgen Klopp," Fowler wrote. "I never really saw Mo Salah or Sadio Mane as proper goalscorers, but he turned them into genuine finishers. And without question, definitely, he did that with Robert Lewandowski at [Borussia] Dortmund.

"Nunez arrives at Anfield with more a striker's mentality than Salah or Mane did because he's more used to playing centrally, he's more used to playing in the penalty area and finishing. He's only 22 and he is still raw, there's no doubt about that. But from what I've seen of him, he has the mindset to score goals."

Liverpool have a plan for Nunez and, while he may take some time to settle in, there is every reason to think his transfer will work out.