Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez makes honest 'leave' admission - 'I couldn't take it anymore'

Darwin Nunez has admitted that he contemplated quitting football as a teenager.

The striker has spent the past two years at Liverpool after arriving from Benfica for a fee that could reach a club-record £85 million. During his time at Anfield, Nunez has recorded 33 goals and 17 assists in 96 appearances and helped the Reds win the Carabao Cup last season.

The 24-year-old is now on international duty with Uruguay as they aim to achieve Copa America glory. But Nunez recently confessed that he contemplated hanging his boots up before his career even got going.

Nunez took part in a Q&A for the Premier League (via ESPN), alongside fellow South American team-mates Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister. The latter was asked his biggest fear, which he replied was suffering a career-ending injury.

That led to Nunez revealing that he had a serious knee problem while coming through Peñarol aged 19 - and that the frustration almost made him retire.

Nunez said: "It happened to me when I was 19, I almost stopped playing football, I didn't play for a year and a half due to a knee injury. I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted to leave."

Diaz spent six months on the sidelines with a knee injury during his Liverpool career. The winger suffered his issue during a defeat by Arsenal in October 2022 and hit a setback in his recovery.

"A long-term injury makes you think about many things, you have to be psyched that it will turn out well," Diaz said. "A long-term injury makes you think about many things, you have to be mentally prepared that it will turn out well"