‘Listen to an idiot like me’ – Darwin Nunez reveals Luis Suarez advice after Liverpool red card

Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez has revealed that his Uruguay team-mate, former Reds striker Luis Suarez, offered him advice about life in the Premier League after Nunez was sent off early in the season.

The 23-year-old arrived at Anfield in a club record £85 million deal in June, but got off to a difficult start at his new club.

The incident resulted in a three-match ban that disrupted his start to life in England, but the striker says he received a helpful call from fellow Uruguayan Suarez, who had a hugely successful spell at Anfield between 2011 and 2014.

“It was a good thing because not many would bother themselves to pick up the phone and send you a message. I think his gesture was really important for me,” Nunez told ESPN.

“Luis is a reference point, an idol everywhere in the world. I’m getting started, I’m young, and he knows about all those things because he already played in the Premier League with Liverpool.

“Luis told me that these things will happen in every game in the Premier League, that they’ll come and find me, that they’re going to bump into me, and that I need to make myself strong and not repeat my screw-up.

“He said: ‘Listen to an idiot like me.’ I really appreciate that message and the fondness he has for me.”

Nunez recently found some good form, scoring four goals in five games in October between the Champions League and Premier League.

The 13-time Uruguay international is likely to feature at the World Cup for Uruguay next month, where he could start alongside Suarez up front, as they did in a 2-0 friendly win over Canada in September.

Uruguay are in Group H alongside South Korea, Portugal and Ghana.