FOOTBALL: Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has urged fans to give Darwin Nunez time after a difficult

Jur­gen Klopp urged fans to be patient with new­com­er Dar­win Nunez.

The 22-year-old Uruguayan strik­er became a record sign­ing for the Reds this summer.

Klopp has spent €100m to bring the ace from Ben­fi­ca to Anfield to replace Sadio Mane’s move to Bay­ern Munich.

Nunez scored in Liv­er­pool’s Pre­mier League open­er away to Ful­ham but has strug­gled since.

In the next game against Crys­tal Palace, he was sent off for head­but­ting Joachim Ander­sen, and was sus­pend­ed for three games.

But Klopp defends the big man ahead of tomor­row’s Cham­pi­ons League clash with Rangers, insist­ing he is still adjust­ing to his new environment.

“Of course he’s still adapt­ing. Our play­ers are always adapt­ing,” he said.

“When a new play­er comes in, every­one talks about them and wants them to shine right away.

“Yes­ter­day I had a long talk with Pep Reichen­ders [Klop­p’s assistant].

We are com­plete­ly sober, so mak­ing sure he does­n’t wor­ry is very impor­tant in our sit­u­a­tion.” He does­n’t seem worried.

“The rea­son I did­n’t start this game [against Brighton] was because I was back from inter­na­tion­al duty and had a ham­string dom. I don’t start peo­ple who can only play 20 or 15 minutes.”

Klopp added: “Of course, the three-match sus­pen­sion has cer­tain­ly made him rest­less.” But that’s fine.

“The team is not fly­ing, it’s not easy for strik­ers (espe­cial­ly finishers)”.

“We cre­ate chances but it’s not all going well and it’s like we put a play­er in and he fin­ished our sit­u­a­tion. I would love to be like that but right now. It’s not our sit­u­a­tion, it’s just that.