In the wake of Philippe Coutinho’s exit to Spain, Liverpool reportedly hope to retain Roberto Firmino’s services for the rest of his career
Talk of this arises in the wake of Philippe Coutinho’s £142m (BBC) move to Barcelona with Liverpool viewing this as an anomaly. The club have no intention in letting any of their other star players leave, conceding that Coutinho had always made clear that his dream was to play for Barcelona and there was not much else they could have done to deny him.
As well as reinvesting their cash fund from Coutinho’s sale on new talent, the Merseyside club are keen on using the money to reward their top players with new deals to ensure the likes of Firmino, Sadio Mane and summer signing Mohamed Salah stay for years to come.
Firmino’s current deal does not expire until 2020, but that has not stopped Liverpool wanting to significantly extend this.
Manager Jurgen Klopp himself is tied down until 2022 by contract and, if he can hold on to his top players, he will have them throughout the peak years of their career and this only bodes well for the Anfield faithful.
Often drawing criticism for lacking an authentic no. 9, Firmino has majorly stepped up this season and has regularly been deployed in a central role.
With 16 goals and eight assists to date this term, he is clearly capable of holding his own as a central striker.
The talk of retaining the Brazilian’s services for the remainder of his career is bold but is a clear statement of intent from Liverpool, who look to finally re-establish themselves as one of Europe’s elite.
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