Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stated that he was “surprised” by the choice of Roberto Firmino to exit the club by the end of the campaign.
Firmino will halt his eight-year spell at Anfield after the expiration of his contract with the Merseyside based club this summer.
The 31-year-old had been in conversation over a fresh deal with the club but he has made the decision to leave the team when his contract expires in June.
Jurgen Klopp speaking on Friday said: “Surprised? Yes, a little bit – it could go two ways and it went one. And I respect that a lot.
“But it’s completely normal in this kind of long relationship that we have and Bobby has with the club.”
The Brazilian forward scored 7 goals in 13 Premier League appearances before the break for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar but he picked up a calf injury that ruled him out of action for two months after the restart of Club football.
Firmino got back to competitive action when Liverpool defeated Everton in the Merseyside derby but he has been restricted to only five appearances from the bench with January acquisition Cody Gakpo fancied in attack partnering Darwin Nunez and Mohammed Salah.
Nevertheless, he was brought on against Manchester United and he made an instant impact scoring the final goal of Liverpool in the evening.
That strike by Roberto Firmino in the hammering of Manchester United became his 108th goal in 324 matches for the Reds.
“I loved the reception he got when he came on against United,” said Klopp, who added that the striker had told him he now wanted “to bring this wonderful story to a positive end”.
The Brazilian International won the the UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and Club World Cup across the years spent with Liverpool.
Firmino should anticipate a touching send forth in the side tutored by Jurgen Klopp’s last home match of the campaign against Aston Villa on the 20th of May.
“There’s no time for a goodbye or whatever in this moment, there’s enough time for that later in the season,” Klopp added.
“Whenever he will come back, everybody knows that the song Reds fans’ Bobby Firmino chant will still be for a long, long time in everybody’s ears.
“I think he’s one of these players that even when he would come with an opposition team, people would be really happy to see him.”
The supposed false 9 of Liverpool has scored 165 goals in 354 appearances so far for the clubs he has represented in his career namely; Figueirense in Brazil, TSG Hoffenheim in Germany and Liverpool in England.
Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira is the full name of the Brazilian and he was born on the 2nd of October in 1991.
Firmino is a Christian and he was baptised in 2020, in the swimming pool of his Brazilian and Liverpool teammate, Allison Becker.
