Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino will leave Liverpool this summer after eight seasons at the club, sources confirmed to ESPN Brasil.
Firmino, 31, has decided not to renew his contract which expires in June. Sky Sports were first to report the news.
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Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has been notified of Firmino’s decision, but the subject of the Brazil international’s future was not raised during Friday’s press conference.
Earlier this year, Klopp had expressed his desire for Firmino to continue at the club beyond June.
However, Firmino, who joined Liverpool from German outfit Hoffenheim in a £29m deal in 2015, wants a new challenge.
He has scored 107 goals in 353 total appearances for Liverpool and alongside fellow-forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane was key in helping Liverpool win the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2019 as well as the Premier League in 2020.
“He is really important, the link-up play, in tight areas and how we want to play,” Klopp recently said of Firmino.
“Maybe he wouldn’t fit right with all the clubs in the world but to most definitely because having a player with his footballing intelligence, you can develop the game from here and score… He is so unselfish on top of that, and you don’t get that very often. He is a great player.”
Firmino has seen his playing time reduced in recent months since the arrivals of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez.
He was not included in Brazil’s 2022 World Cup squad and has also been left out of the Brazil squad for the international friendly against Morocco on March 25.
Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League standings and take on Manchester United on Sunday.
