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Anfield arrival
Roberto Firmino was in Santiago, Chile, when he agreed to
sign for Liverpool Football Club. The Hoffenheim forward was
on international duty with Brazil, playing in the Copa America,
when the Reds struck a deal to make him the club’s second-
most expensive signing.
Ian Ayre, LFC chief executive at the time, flew out to meet
Firmino on 23 June 2015. The Brazilian FA had a closed-camp
policy, but Brazil boss Dunga gave Roberto permission to
leave the team hotel for an hour to get the deal done.
It didn’t take long, and two days after scoring his first Copa
America goal against Venezuela he was a Red – although
he had to wait until 6 July to pass a medical and be officially
registered as Liverpool FC’s new no11.
A month later Brendan Rodgers handed Firmino his Reds
debut as a substitute in a 1-0 win at Stoke, and he again came
off the bench for his Anfield bow against Bournemouth.
Starts against Arsenal, West Ham and Arsenal followed, but
with Rodgers deploying a 4-1-4-1 formation, Firmino found
himself playing as a wide midfielder and struggled to make
an impact. A back injury suffered in the League Cup against
Carlisle United then ruled him out for a month and by the time
he returned, Liverpool had a new manager.
Jürgen Klopp’s appointment in October 2015 changed
everything. “He was a player I thought was one of the best in
the Bundesliga,” admitted Klopp in 2016, “so when I saw that
Liverpool had signed him, I thought: how could Liverpool do
this?Five years ago tomorrow our brilliant Brazilian number nine officially completed his move to
Liverpool FC. How half-a-decade flies when you’re having fun...
BOBBY FIRMINO
“They were not in their 100-per-cent best moment and
other clubs would have spent more on him, so I thought
immediately: what a good transfer for them. When I knew I
was coming here I knew I had a good player – I was looking
forward to working with him very much.”
Firmino’s first start under Klopp was at home to
Bournemouth in the League Cup. He played in the no10 role