Roberto Firmino made an emphatic statement on his Liverpool future this week. It’s a statement his teammates refuse to make.
What a massive summer this will be for Liverpool. The Reds have five first-team players entering the final year of their respective contracts and three of them truly stand out.
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino have been the bedrock on which Liverpool built their success under Jurgen Klopp. That trio – the best front-three on the planet over the last five years – has been remarkable in everything they’ve done, winning every major trophy.
Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz have since come in and forced their way into the side, of course. But both have a long way to go to match what the original trio have done.
Liverpool face a tough decision or three this summer, then. Salah, Mané and Firmino will all be past 30 by the time next season kicks off and that makes long-term contracts a tricky thing. How long should the club commit to with them?
Perhaps a better question is, do the players themselves want to commit?
Roberto Firmino’s Liverpool future
Well, we know Firmino does. He spoke to TNT Brasil this week and emphatically stated his desire to remain with Liverpool long-term.
“I’m very happy here. I’m grateful to God that I’m here playing for a great club with great players, winning titles. And my will is to stay,” Firmino told TNT Sports.
“My wish is to stay here. I want to be here. I’m happy here. So that’s all I can say, I want to stay.”
It’s a particularly notable take because both Salah and Mané refused to make similar statements. Now, in Salah’s defence, he did commit to next season. Mané, though, wouldn’t discuss his future at all until after the Champions League final.
So as we move into this massive summer, with all three players’ futures on the line, Firmino is the only one openly inviting a new contract right now. As for Salah and Mané, we’ll have to wait and see what happens after Saturday.