Steven Gerrard now pushing to sign yet another former Liverpool player

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Steven Gerrard is looking to bring another former Liverpool player to join him at Al Ettifaq.

Having taken over at the Saudi side over the summer, Gerrard wasted no time in looking to work with those who made their name at his old club.

Jordan Henderson was first through the door in a move that surprised just about everyone. Then, Stevie added his old midfield teammate Gini Wijnaldum to the pack.

And now, according to journalist Ben Jacobs, the Liverpool icon is attempting to make that three, with the signing of Roberto Firmino. Speaking on the The Debrief podcast yesterday, Jacobs assessed Firmino’s options this winter as he looks to leave Al Ahli.

“Bobby Firmino is an interesting one because he’s not playing at Al Ahli,” explains the journalist. “I’m told from the Saudi dealmakers side, they’d rather keep him optics wise in Saudi until the end of the season, then Firmino might leave. A loan could be a possibility. Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq are a genuine contender, but only if Al Ahli pay basically 100 per cent of the wages and if not that won’t be feasible.

“Al Shabab and even Slaven Bilic’s Al Fateh have looked. But it’s all about Firmino. Because there’s a break now he’ll assess. It wouldn’t remotely surprise me if there’s some MLS interest in Firmino, and we know that Turkey as well have looked at him in the past. So that could be for January but I sense if he is to exit Saudi he might have to wait until the summer.”

Firmino on the move again

Unfortunately for Firmino, things just haven’t worked out for him at Al Ahli. It was all going so well initially. After being made captain of the team, Bobby bagged a hat-trick on his competitive debut.

But now 19 games into the season, the Brazil international is yet to score again.

Really, it’s hardly surprising that Bobby isn’t finding it easy over in Saudi Arabia. The crowds have been tiny for some games and for a showman like Liverpool’s former No.9, that’s hard to come to terms with.

We all saw how the 32-year-old’s form dipped during the games played without fans in 2020/21.

He needs the crowd there and the atmosphere to be hot. Otherwise, from his point of view at least, what’s the point.

As a result, we’d be a little surprised to see Bobby stay in the Middle East beyond this season. As Jacobs points out though, it may be difficult to get a move away this month.

So, perhaps a move to Al Ettifaq would suit him in that respect. It’s true that Gerrard’s team are a much smaller draw than Al Ahli though and consequently seem to play in-front of even smaller attendances.

But at least Firmino would be with a couple of former Anfield teammates. He spent five years at Liverpool with Wijnaldum and eight playing alongside Henderson. These are his people. Either way, we’d just love to see Bobby with a smile back on his face. If Stevie can do that, then we’re all for it.