Desailly urges Xabi Alonso to sign Darwin Nunez, claiming Chelsea would unlock the striker's best

Marcel Desailly has called on incoming Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso to sign Darwin Nunez, arguing that the Uruguayan striker’s struggles at Liverpool were a product of his environment rather than a lack of quality.

Nunez joined Liverpool from Benfica in 2022 in a deal worth up to €100m but never consistently justified that outlay across three seasons at Anfield, oscillating between spectacular goals and costly misses before the club sold him to Saudi side Al-Hilal last summer.

Desailly, who spent six years at Stamford Bridge after joining from Milan in 1998, believes the move to Chelsea could be the fresh start Nunez needs. “A player who could suit the profile is former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez,” the World Cup winner told Betway. “If you give him the confidence and belief, he will not feel shy because the people in the system are a higher grade than him.”

The Frenchman went further, placing the blame for Nunez’s Anfield difficulties squarely on the quality of those around him. “That is what happened to him at Liverpool. There were too many players higher grade than him, so he couldn’t express himself. At Chelsea, I’m sure he would express himself and perform.”

The suggestion arrives at a turbulent moment for the west London club. Chelsea finished tenth in the Premier League last season after the decision to replace Enzo Maresca with Liam Rosenior failed to produce the desired results. The club is now banking on Alonso’s arrival to restore their Champions League ambitions.

Whether Alonso shares Desailly’s enthusiasm for a striker who has already tested the patience of one top-six fanbase remains to be seen. Nunez’s time in Saudi Arabia has done little to settle the debate about his ceiling, and Chelsea’s own record of providing a pressure-free environment for high-profile forwards is, at best, mixed.