Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Liverpool Echo

Sport

Paul Gorst

Liverpool are running out of time to make contract decision that could hurt most

Roberto Firmino Jurgen Klopp Virgil van Dijk Diogo Jota Gini Wijnaldum Liverpool

As Liverpool hurtle towards 2023 with so much uncertainty off the field, there is also plenty on the pitch too.

With Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner all entering the final months of their respective contracts, it remains to be seen what the future holds for all three at Anfield at a time when the club is up for sale and they are preparing to lose two key figures in their recruitment department in sporting director Julian Ward and head of research Ian Graham.

Away from the midfield rebuild that will be needed next summer, however, it could be argued that the most important Liverpool player entering the final months of his deal is further forward in Roberto Firmino.

The Brazil international will form part of the contingent that flies out to Dubai this month for a warm-weather training camp and mid-season friendlies with Lyon and AC Milan and he will be looking to build on what has been a largely positive campaign for him so far under Jurgen Klopp.

The disappointment of missing out on the Brazil squad for the World Cup no doubt stung the former Hoffenheim man but from a Reds' perspective, a full mid-season programme in Dubai gives him the best chance of hitting the ground at speed when Premier League action resumes on Boxing Day at Aston Villa.

It also affords him the opportunity to build up the sort of form that will make decisions around his contract an easier one for the club themselves, should Firmino have designs on staying on Merseyside beyond the seven years he's already been here for.

Klopp confirmed before the break that talks are ongoing with the South American's representatives, saying: "Normal conversations [are] happening as well, so we will see what happens there."

Allowing the No.9 to depart to a hero's exit in the summer will be a tough one for supporters to take. While emotional send-offs have been the order of the day on the final afternoon of the season for Gini Wijnaldum and Divock Origi since 2021, the departure of the flamboyant Firmino - a player who has become to personify the Klopp era since 2015 - will surely hurt the most.

But on the flip side, the nature of Wijnaldum's departure as a free agent has proven that owners FSG refuse to factor emotion into the process when it comes to the contract situations of key figures on the playing staff.

Firmino will be 32 in October and is a high earner. His potential departure leaves space for the club to recruit a younger player with a high ceiling for growth and improvement in the same way, for example, Diogo Jota has done since his move to Anfield in September 2020.

Alternatively, should the 31-year-old leave Liverpool on a free next year, it means the club will be in need of recruiting another attacker at a time when the midfield requires serious attention and costs for top players are spiraling further and further away from what the Reds typically pay. Firmino represents quite the unique conundrum in that respect.

Liverpool, as a general rule, don't hand out long-term contracts to players in their 30s, even if Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson have bucked that trend in the last 12 months or so. Virgil van Dijk was also weeks removed from his 30th birthday when he penned new terms in August of last year.

Despite his advancing years, Firmino has never been a player who has relied on his physical gifts. His intelligence and ability to knit play together with his control and touch are unlikely to desert him the older he gets, making any potential contract decision either way from the club all the more difficult to predict.

It remains to be seen if Liverpool view Firmino's long-term ability to contribute as on the same level as their club captain, biggest goal threat and best defender, though, and a shorter-term extension is one potential option to safeguard from further outlay.

Firmino's situation is one of the many intriguing subplots developing at Anfield at present but with nine goals so far this term, and a profile that wildly differs from what Klopp has elsewhere in his attacking department in Jota and Darwin Nunez, perhaps there is a feeling that the long-serving centre-forward still has more to his story at Anfield?

READ NEXT