18-year-old forward suggests he could be Liverpool’s next Roberto Firmino

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On paper, it’s fair to say that Liverpool haven’t necessarily missed Roberto Firmino since his exit last summer.

The Brazilian departed for Saudi Arabia after eight wonderful seasons as a Red in 2023. Since then, Firmino has struggled to settle in the Middle East, while Liverpool have been far better than during his final season at the club last year.

Nevertheless, Bobby is still hugely revered at Anfield, where he carved out his own unique role in Jurgen Klopp’s juggernaut. But according to Liverpool youngster Jayden Danns, Firmino’s position may not have been all that unique after all. Speaking to liverpoolfc.com, Danns says that he’s been compared to the former No.9 himself.

“When I was young, I used to get compared to [Roberto] Firmino,” claims the 18-year-old. “I wasn’t as tall when I was younger, I was quite a late developer, and then all in a short period of time everything hit me at once.

“Back in the day I was like a No.9-and-a-half, where I’m still a No.9 but I love to drop in. The last couple of years, I’ve started to run in behind more as I’ve got more physical and believed in my pace a little bit more.

“One of my goals last season was to work on my pressing, to be honest. It’s got a lot better with my physicality as I’ve grown into my body but also when you add the work that we’ve put into it to keep pressing and keep counter-pressing… you can see the results.”

Danns looking to be next Firmino

If learning to counter-press was Danns’ aim, then he couldn’t have asked for a better teacher than Firmino. The beaming Brazil international practically wrote the book on how to press an opponent into submission.

It seems that Danns has been taking onboard anything he was able to grasp from Bobby before he left.

The teenager has been phenomenal this season. His wicked goal scoring form has led to a first-team call-up to training. It surely won’t be long before we see him in a Liverpool matchday squad.

If you listen to those that have watched Danns plenty though, he doesn’t come across as someone Firmino-like.

Instead, Liverpool U21s coach Barry Lewtas has described him as a ‘real No.9.’ He’s certainly looking like being a more prolific type of striker than Firmino was.

Should he combine those sensibilities with a desire to press and drop deep, then he could be a real special talent.

Of course, Danns would do well to get to anything like Firmino’s level. Bobby was one of the greatest No.9’s Liverpool have ever had – even if he didn’t really play like one. It won’t be easy to match that legacy.

But as he becomes more and more familiar with the senior squad, it’ll be interesting to see which direction Danns goes in. If he can add a bit of Firmino into his game, the Kop are going to love him.