AFTER another smart-looking piece of business was wrapped up by Liverpool in the shape of the £7.25million signing of Takumi Minamino, a tabloid hatchet job on sporting director Michael Edwards from four years ago reemerged on social media.
It’s fair to say it hadn’t aged well.
Among the barrage of barbs aimed at Edwards and the fabled transfer committee, then presented as a shadowy and malignant force, was a pop regarding one signing in particular.
“The committee have yet to explain how they came up with the figure of £29million to sign Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim, who finished eighth in the Bundesliga last season,” it read.
So many nuggets in that Ashton article ‘The committee have yet to explain how they came up with the figure of £29million to sign Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim, who finished eighth in the Bundesliga last season’ #LFC
— Si Steers (@sisteers) December 19, 2019
The piece was written in the short space of time that bridged post-Brendan Rodgers and pre-Jurgen Klopp. Firmino’s fee in the summer of 2015 had briefly made him The Reds’ second most expensive signing of all time.
Rodgers, though, had used him sparingly, and by the time of his sacking in October 2015, only eight games into the Premier League campaign, the Brazilian had only four starts to his name, with one of those coming in the League Cup.
Talk was that Rodgers wasn’t convinced and that Firmino was the committee’s choice while Christian Benteke was his. The Ulsterman’s deployment of the Brazilian forward had been questionable, particularly at Old Trafford in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United when he was stationed on the right-hand side, doing much of his work in a wing-back position.
Not only was a newspaper questioning his fee, but his work-rate, quality, and suitability were also all being doubted by some. At the time of Rodgers’ departure, Firmino’s record at Liverpool read seven appearances, no goals. Now, we can look back and smile.
Just a reminder that our front 3 cost less than £100m:
Salah – £36m
Mane – £34m
Firmino – £29m3 absolute bargains. All 3 of them are worth over £100m alone in this inflated transfer market. pic.twitter.com/JQtYgGDPyU
— Samue (@SamueILFC) August 3, 2019
After a further 212 games for The Reds, alongside 72 goals and 56 assists, it’s fair to say there are few questions remaining around a player now rated in the £80million bracket.
And the man serenaded by Scousers week in, week out gave everyone a reminder of his talent in Qatar.
It’s been a slow season for goals from Firmino up to now with two in August, one in September and one in November before Liverpool flew east for the Club World Cup. The statistics show he hasn’t been quite so deadly as past seasons when the chances have arrived.
But there was no sign of a drought in the desert as the forward capped 44 times by Brazil not only sunk Monterrey at the death in the semi-finals but also popped up with an extra-time winner in the final with Flamengo.
Roberto Firmino has scored 6 goals for Liverpool so far this season.
5 of them have been match-winners. pic.twitter.com/rUQCTTOBK7
— LFC Stats (@LFCData) December 22, 2019
It was Firmino’s third late winner inside a month after his goal won for it Liverpool away at Crystal Palace at the end of November. Now everyone at Liverpool will be hoping he’s back to his brilliant best. Because when Firmino fires, so too do the side in red. From his arrival at Anfield to the present day, it’s always been crystal clear that Firmino is among Klopp’s most treasured talents.
And far from griping about a big fee, the German made it obvious early on that he would be central to his revolution: “He was a player I thought was one of the best in the Bundesliga,” said Klopp.“So, when I saw that Liverpool had signed him, I thought: ‘How could Liverpool do this?’ They were not in their 100 per cent best moment and other clubs would have spent more on him so I thought immediately: ‘What a good transfer for them.’”
Very quickly Firmino was transformed from a player that seemed to be on the verge of being labelled as an expensive flop to one that was central to everything good that Liverpool produced.
Klopp calls him “the engine” and Firmino’s first goal for the club came on a night when Liverpool were purring. It was only the manager’s eighth game in charge, but it was the biggest indication that he would transform The Reds as we knew them and Firmino as we knew him.
Liverpool won 4-1 away at Manchester City, Firmino forced an own goal, set up a Philippe Coutinho’s goal, scored one himself, and it could and should have been an even more convincing scoreline. Klopp had arrived, Firmino had arrived and the upwards trajectory has continued apace ever since. That season – his first and Klopp’s first – he finished the season as Liverpool’s top scorer in the league with 11 goals.
Outside the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday, Firmino’s father Jose queued with fans to enter the ground before kick-off.
FIRMINO’S GOAL THAT CROWNED #LFC THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD! pic.twitter.com/9cBSlCgVpq
— Liverpool FC Vines (@LFC_Vines) December 21, 2019
Spotted by this writer, his face lit up and a super-firm handshake was issued. “Bobby…dos goal,” he said. It could have been, maybe should have been as predicted. But just one, a coolly delivered, enthusiastically celebrated goal, proved enough.
Clearly his father had every confidence his son would show up on the big stage. And he did. Again.
When a talented player works as hard as Firmino, success is never far away. Goals and assists are always the most talked-about stats. But for sprints, distance covered and ball recoveries, Firmino is usually there or thereabouts.
It clearly doesn’t go unnoticed. From the manager, to team-mates, to those that sing his name on The Kop, few have bad words to say about the man with gleaming teeth and twinkle toes. £29million? No explanation required. For the star quality Firmino possesses, it was a snip.
