Nunez joined Liverpool for what could end up being a club record fee of up to £85m from Benfica this summer.
The Reds have lacked a recognisable centre-forward in recent years under Jurgen Klopp, with the German tactician preferring to use first Roberto Firmino and most recently Sadio Mane as false nines in his preferred 4-3-3 set-up.
Liverpool’s attack has had a lot of success under the proponent of Gegenpressing, but Barnes believes that Nunez’s presence will give them better options inside the penalty box, which might prove useful against teams that defend in a low block.
“Liverpool have already brought in Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, so what bringing in Darwin Nunez should change is it will give Liverpool more a threat within the penalty box”, Barnes told Sky Sports News.
“We’re a very good team on the counter-attack with space in behind, but every now and then when teams defend deep and in numbers, we’ve not had that big presence in the box which is what Nunez will give us.”
Barnes noted that the lack of an orthodox forward to get on the end of crosses was the only weapon missing from the arsenal at the Reds’ disposal.
He also pointed out that a huge number of new arrivals under Klopp have managed to settle into a rhythm quickly.
“It will give us a real orthodox presence to get on the end of crosses in addition to what we already have”, he added.
“Players do need time to bed in, but the majority of Jurgen Klopp’s signings have hit the ground running.”
Nunez scored a total of 34 goals in 41 appearances for the Lisbon giants during the recently concluded season, in which he netted twice against his current club in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
