Jurgen Klopp gave a very open opinion on Roberto Firmino’s future in the wake of Liverpool signing Cody Gakpo. The Reds’ boss is in no two minds.
Jurgen Klopp was asked a lot about Cody Gakpo in his Thursday press conference. That’s understandable – Liverpool only signed him last night.
One particularly interesting question was about how this affects Roberto Firmino, though. This is a new forward arriving, one who can potentially play as a centre-forward, and the Brazilian’s contact expires in June.
It’s easy to see how this could be a replacement, then. Klopp isn’t having that, however, and is 100 per cent adamant that this doesn’t affect a thing.
“Not for me, absolutely not,” said Klopp. “We have talked with Bobby and I can say from my point of view, I want him definitely to stay.
“So there will be no impact. If you mean by ‘impact’ whether Bobby will [go], you’d have to ask Bobby. But from my point of view, no.”
Roberto Firmino’s future
It’s an interesting one. Liverpool now have Firmino, Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez as their forward options. That’s a lot of quality for a side with only three spots up top.
Essentially, three elite forwards will start on the bench every week. That’s fantastic for Liverpool but certainly unusual. How do you even keep all of those players happy? Can you justify that kind of wage spend?
It’s an important question, then, given Firmino’s contract situation. He’s the only one not tied down for a long time, while also going on 32. Liverpool could clear up £180k per week by letting him move on, if Capology are right.
Klopp, though, wants him to stay – which shouldn’t be a surprise. Firmino is essentially irreplaceable with his skill set and we imagine Liverpool will do all they can to keep him in their depth of forward options.
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