Roberto Firmino is worth a lot more than former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers once paid to sign him.
Few Liverpool fans would be surprised to see Mo Salah on that list, with the red-hot Egyptian star the fifth most valuable player on the planet at £150 million, behind only Harry Kane, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
But Roberto Firmino, Salah’s partner in crime at Liverpool, was also on the list. The Brazil international is the world’s 15th most expensive footballer, coming in with a valuation of around £124 million.
Former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers got a lot of things wrong on the transfer front during his time on Merseyside, but Firmino might be his greatest success.
Rodgers, who also brought Philippe Coutinho to Anfield in 2012, spent only £29 million on bringing the former Hoffenheim star to the Premier League in 2015 and, considering he is worth a lot more than that, it’s fair to say that the now-Celtic boss pulled off a fine coup.
In fact, it was such a great signing that Jurgen Klopp, Rodgers’s successor, admitted he was shocked that the Reds got the deal done in the first place, telling The Independent in 2016: “Nobody asked me about him but he was a player I thought was one of the best in the Bundesliga. So when I saw that Liverpool had signed him I thought: ‘How could Liverpool do this?’
In addition to Sadio Mane, Liverpool have one of the most formidable attacking tridents on the planet, evident by the fact they reached the Champions League final this past season.
Better yet, all three are still young and could dominate the Premier League for a while yet. Winning the Premier League will certainly be on the agenda next season and although Rodgers came agonisingly close to achieving this feat himself with a second-placed finish in 2014, he deserves a slice of credit if Firmino helps Klopp’s side go one better next time around.
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