Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has claimed that the Reds will lose a ‘very special guy’ if Roberto Firmino leaves the club this summer.
As things stand, it looks virtually a done deal that Firmino will end his eight year stay at Liverpool at the end of the season. Unless anything dramatic happens, Bobby will move on.
That revelation has been met with an outpouring of grief from anyone with a Red persuasion. With the news coming out ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United, it was written in the stars that Firmino would score. And score he did. And speaking to ESPN Brasil via The Metro after the game, Fabinho reflected on his own relationship with Bobby.
“Bobby is a very special guy. It’s great to have him as a teammate. He’s a guy that everyone likes,” said the 29-year-old. “It was really cool that he scored today, that he celebrated in that way. Everyone on the bench, on the field, celebrated with him, because he is a guy that everyone likes.
“So he’s a guy who for me should stay at Liverpool forever, who was very important since my arrival. And I don’t want to talk too much about the future, let’s enjoy these last few months that we have of him here.
“I don’t know if the situation can still change, but we joke with him a little. But let’s enjoy it while we have this player with us because he is a very special guy.”
Firmino leaves hole that can’t be filled
Fabinho’s thoughts are likely to be echoed throughout the Liverpool squad. During his eight years at the club, no one has ever had a bad word to say about Bobby Firmino.
And why should they? The 31-year-old has been a joy both on and off the pitch since arriving in 2015. Rarely without a smile on his face, Firmino seems to get along with just about everyone.
Is that any wonder when he’s so relentlessly unselfish with the ball at his feet? In this stats-obsessed age of football in which we live, it’s so rare to see a player who actively enjoys bringing out the best in his teammates. They can try, but Liverpool won’t be able to replace that.
And so, Fabinho’s words speak to a bigger hole than the one Firmino will leave on the pitch. In football players come and go, that’s a given. It’s impossible to keep the same players together for a long period of time. But it still doesn’t make it any less difficult when a stalwart of the dressing room must move on.
Jurgen Klopp will feel that keenly as he loses one of his most trusted lieutenants. At least he has plenty of others to fall back on, though. Fabinho himself will have been at Liverpool for five years come this summer. As long as the Reds don’t chop all of those longest-serving players at the same time, at least there’s some continuity. For Bobby though, the long goodbye begins. We won’t see another like him. Special indeed.
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