Jurgen Klopp should never have let £29m Liverpool player go, he’d be perfect right now

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Liverpool’s forward line is currently the envy of the football world.

Rarely has one team had such a collection of brilliant attackers. Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and of course the jewel in the crown Mohamed Salah.

Rewind 10 months ago though, and Liverpool had a sixth superstar among that group – Roberto Firmino.

For a time, Reds fans were absolutely spoilt. Following Gakpo’s arrival from PSV Eindhoven in January, those six players scored 32 goals between them until the end of these season.

Although Firmino only got four of those goals, it’s safe to say that the Brazilian was contributing in a big way. Adjusting to role of impact player, Bobby still obviously had so much to offer. And then he left.

That one of Liverpool’s most celebrated No.9’s exited wasn’t a surprise. It had been on the cards for a while. But after Firmino’s admission that he didn’t really want to leave Liverpool today, we think it was the wrong decision.

Liverpool left with Firmino regret

It was a little bit of a surprise to hear that Firmino was actually wanting to stay on at Anfield.

With talks said to have taken place to some degree earlier in the year, it seemed like Liverpool had made an effort to keep him, but the £29m man had declined.

Now, reading quotes from his new book – released today – it seems as though the Brazil international had taken the hint that he was no longer wanted.

“If it was difficult for them to say, well then I would say it: ‘I’m not staying. I’ll go’,” he says via This Is Anfield.

“If deep in their hearts they weren’t sure about extending my contract, if they didn’t know what to do, then for the good of everyone I would make the decision to leave.”

For our money, that’s borderline unforgivable from Liverpool. Here was one of their great players of the modern era, still getting goals, still clearly good enough to play for at least a little longer and willing to stay.

If Firmino was willing to accept a slightly reduced role – and reduced terms – then it shouldn’t have even been a question.

Some may argue that Liverpool don’t need him, six attackers is too many. But injuries have already come for Nunez and Gakpo this season, while Diaz has a situation of his own. Bobby could have filled in and eased the transition from Liverpool 1.0 to Liverpool 2.0.

For all he gave the club over eight years of terrific service, he deserved the chance to find himself in a burgeoning Reds team. He had so much to teach the likes of Gakpo and Nunez. Now he’ll never get that opportunity. What a shame.