Jurgen Klopp should take ‘world class’ former Liverpool player back to Anfield for six months

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As January approaches, Liverpool continue to be linked with all manner of players.

The general consensus is that the Reds need a new centre-back as well as another defensive midfielder to sustain their title challenge.

As a result, the rumour mill is spinning furiously. The likes of Goncalo Inacio continue to be mentioned as a defensive addition, while Andre Trindade doesn’t appear to have yet been totally ruled out in midfield.

This is, of course, all very interesting. Everyone likes a good transfer story, no matter how spurious.

But perusing the back pages this week, it’s not Inacio or Andre who has been catching Liverpool supporters’ collective imaginations. It’s Roberto Firmino.

The Mirror are reporting that Firmino is looking for a way out of Al Ahli mere months after joining them. Steven Gerrard is reportedly pushing to sign him for Al Ettifaq. But with the Reds competing on all fronts this season, why not bring Bobby back?

Firmino looking for Al Ahli exit

First of all, we should clarify that we’re not advocating for a two or three year stay for Firmino back at Anfield. Although in fairness we wouldn’t have opposed that last season.

Instead, what’s the harm in Liverpool offering Bobby a six-month get-out from Saudi Arabia? A short-term contract until the end of the season.

As we saw with Diogo Jota’s recent injury, the Reds forward options become a little light when you remove one of them.

It also must be said that without Mohamed Salah – and to an extent, Jota – Liverpool’s attack doesn’t get enough goals. Firmino could help with that.

With Salah on his way to AFCON in January, the Brazilian’s return could ease that blow. Just half-a-year on from his exit, Firmino wouldn’t need to adapt and could help push Liverpool to glory.

For those who have played with him previously, the 32-year-old coming back would be a real morale boost, too. Just like Luis Diaz’s arrival reinvigorated the Reds’ quadruple attempt in 2022, Firmino’s could do the same in 2024.

More than all of these reasons though, it would just be great to see Bobby again. In some respects the legendary No.9 didn’t get the farewell campaign he really deserved at Liverpool. The Reds don’t tend to make these decisions based on emotions, but an exception here would really make a lot of sense.

Unfortunately, we’d be amazed if this ended up happening. It should also be said that although Firmino has been deemed ‘world class’ by Klopp in the past [The Mirror], he hasn’t scored in 16 games for Al Ahli. Nevertheless, if he’s open to it then Liverpool should be, too. Bring Bobby on home and let’s go and win it all.