Breaking news on Darwin Nunez injury after Uruguay’s surprise announcement

Breaking news on Darwin Nunez injury after Uruguay’s surprise announcement

Darwin Nunez was withdrawn by Uruguay at the request of Liverpool, who picked up an injury just days before the start.

Nunez was called up to Uruguay’s 23-man squad to face Japan and South Korea in friendlies later this month, and is set to play a key role as the post-Luis Suarez era begins.

However, reports emerged on Friday evening that the striker would instead remain at Merseyside, being replaced by Club America’s Jonathan Rodriguez.

The Uruguayan FA confirmed this was due to injury, with Liverpool explaining that Nunez would remain at the AXA Training Center for treatment.

No further information was provided, but local newspapers El Observador and El Pais reported that it was an ankle problem. Both publications describe the problem as a “cut up to the ankle”.

El Pais reports that the injury occurred during the mid-week Champions League defeat to Real Madrid, which would explain his early substitution.

Nunez was sent off in the 57th minute at the Bernabeu, sparking anger from the support as the score was still 0-0 and Liverpool needed three goals.

How serious Nunez’s injury is remains to be seen, although the Reds won’t be back on action until April 1 when they visit Man City.

Chances are, if it’s just a cut ankle, as reported, he’ll be fit and ready to start against the title challengers next month.

Jurgen Klopp will be desperate to get him involved, having described the three games in nine days against Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal as a “real week of football” which could “define” the season. Klopp said after the 1-0 defeat at Madrid that Nunez was replaced because he “wasn’t at the absolute top level”.

“Darwin didn’t seem to be at the absolute top level, and so we have to defend that team too, because conceding doesn’t help in that situation,” he told reporters.

“Yes, we can change that, that’s why we did it. We wanted to mix things up a bit, it’s true.

However, it turns out that Nunez instead needed treatment for a problem serious enough to rule him out for Uruguay.