Robbie Fowler knows a thing or two about scoring goals in the Premier League, scoring 199 goals for Liverpool, 14 for Leeds United, and 28 for Manchester City, among others. In the 1990’s Fowler was one of the league’s top scorers and cult legends.
Now the former Liverpool great spoke with Betting Expert about the club’s big signing Darwin Núñez and how he compares to Manchester City’s signing Erling Haaland. Fowler also spoke about the exit of club hero Sadio Mané.
Below are the former England international’s comments on his beloved Liverpool and what comes next for Jürgen Klopp's side ahead of the new European season.
Robbie Fowler on Darwin Núñez and Erling Haaland
“(Núñez) is the type of player I wanted to see Liverpool have for a number of years… Everybody knows I am a striker. I think my love for the game is up there with my love for the players in my position. “Liverpool has had great players and great strikers over the years. You look at (Sadio) Mané and (Mohamed) Salah. Players who can change games. I think Darwin Nunez is that type of player, who can change a game. He can maybe pull a nil-nil into a one-nil in your favor.”
When comparing the new Uruguayan striker to Manchester City’s big catch Erling Haaland, Fowler stated: “I know Manchester City is thinking exactly the same thing with (Erling) Haaland. From a Liverpool point of view, they have gone out there to spend money. They’ve lost a player, Mané, which is disappointing. They got money for him, so they’ve received more money than they’ve spent five-six years ago. Probably good business for the club.”
When asked if Mané is a Liverpool legend, Fowler responded, “Yeah, I think so, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be up there (with other greats). He scored goals, he won trophies, and he has been a fan favorite. And when you think of Liverpool greats over the years, that is what they’ve done, they won trophies, they scored goals, and they had a great rapport with the fans. I find it odd to speak to any Liverpool fan and not have a good thing to say about Mane, I think he has been brilliant.”
On the Liverpool squad as a whole Fowler is satisfied with the team Klopp has put together, “One of Liverpool’s problems over the years was they never had the depth, they never had the squad to compete on every level. All of a sudden, they got that squad to compete at every level. People would say, maybe we don’t need to play that many games. I don’t get that, I really don’t because we want them to compete at every level.”
“There are a few options for certain players, we don’t know whether they want to keep them or not. I don’t want Liverpool to be in the same boat they’ve been in a few years ago when the squad wasn’t great. Don’t get me wrong, the first eleven now would be brilliant, but when you start getting rid of maybe three or four players, the squad is not as strong as it was.”
“So, then you maybe go back to the level it was maybe a few years ago. And I don’t think Liverpool can afford to do that now, because they’ve worked so hard, and they did so well to get where they are. And I don’t want to see that stop, I want them to sign more players. Who else they will sign I don’t know, will they wait another year to bring another midfielder in, time will tell.”
“And I think certainly with Jurgen, that will always be the case, he will sign new players. The time will tell, we don’t know if anyone else will come in. I like to think there would be because it would be an absolute shame if Liverpool doesn’t progress the way we all believe they should do.”
