Jurgen Klopp told two Liverpool stars aren't good enough to play for club

Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo are not good enough to play for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

That is the view of former Reds left-back Jose Enrique, who has ripped into the duo and believes neither are capable of playing for teams that are challenging for trophies.

Nunez joined Liverpool from Benfica for £64million plus add-ons back in June 2022. Despite receiving criticism for missing a number of big chances, he finished his first season on 15 goals and four assists in 42 matches. He has elevated those numbers this term, having directly contributed to 31 goals in 47 games.

As for Gakpo, he arrived at Anfield midway through last season as Liverpool dealt with a mini injury crisis. However, the Dutchman, who moved from PSV for £37m, has been in and out of the starting XI this campaign, scoring 14 goals and adding four assists in 47 matches across all competitions.

“Darwin Nunez is simply not at the required level and he never has been,” Enrique told Grosvenor Sport. “He is a good player, I like him a lot and the fans love him, but he isn’t at the level of some of Liverpool’s best forwards from the past. He is a good player but he is not a Liverpool number nine.

“He could play for a lot of top teams in Europe, but he is not good enough for those that are challenging for trophies. Their old front three was one of the world’s best and now this current team only really has two goalscorers – Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota.

“Cody Gakpo is not a goalscorer and he won’t get you 20 goals every season like Sadio Mane and Salah did. Roberto Firmino wasn’t a player to score that many goals, but he gave you so much more outside of that. Darwin Nunez gets a lot of chances but misses them too frequently.”

The damning statement comes a matter of days after Liverpool squandered the chance to move back to the top of the Premier League. The Reds lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace on Sunday, as a first-half strike from Eberechi Eze proved the difference with Klopp’s men missing a catalogue of opportunities.

Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez playing for Liverpool

Enrique added: “There is too much space opening up for other sides playing against Liverpool, but that is not the biggest problem. They are simply missing too many chances.

“It is not possible to win the Premier League when you miss as many chances as they do, especially when you aren’t too strong defensively and concede a lot of chances at your own end.”

Liverpool are back in action when they travel to Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday. The Reds then face three successive Premier League away fixtures to potentially save their season, making the journey to Fulham, across Stanley Park to Everton and down to West Ham.

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