Liverpool are on the verge of completing a £29m move for Hoffenheim forward Roberto Firmino. Only a medical stands in the way of the deal being completed.

The move to bring in the Brazilian international will be seen as the first major marquee signing that Liverpool need to make this summer to show their intent in finishing in the ‘Top Four’ next term.

Many have questioned the size of the fee for the twenty-three year old. Keen observers of the Bundesliga have came out praising Firmino’s talents but are dubious about him being worth such a hefty price.

But one way of looking at it is that he is coming in to fill the void that will be left once Raheem Sterling gets his wish and signs for Manchester City later on in the transfer window.

You can only imagine that the Firmino deal will only hurry along the Sterling transfer and Liverpool stand to make around £50m when they sell their own young whizz-kid to City.

So Liverpool would replace Sterling with Roberto and still have £20m extra in the transfer kitty.

Bringing in a current Brazilian international, who has four goals in nine caps and is currently playing in the Copa America, will enthuse the ‘Reds’ fans who have already shown a great dislike to wantaway man Sterling.

Similarly to Sterling, Firmino would offer Liverpool creative flexibility in the forward roles. The Brazilian can play wide on the left, in the hole behind a main attacker and even as a makeshift striker.

In thirty-three Bundesliga games last season the forward managed to get seven goals and created ten assists. That is better than the stat records of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling at Anfield last season.

Some of Liverpool’s fans could be concerned that Firmino would be too similar to Coutinho and that the two may not gel well together in the same side. Yet they both started in Brazil’s recent 2-1 win over Venezuela with Frimino even getting his name on the scoresheet.

See I am of the belief that two good versatile attackers like Coutinho and Firmino can always find ways of playing together and scare opposition defences. They will probably interchange positions and create a fluidity that Brendan Rodgers loves seeing from his teams.

To be honest, I think Liverpool could have got this one spot on.

Get rid of Raheem Sterling, who seems ungrateful and spoilt, for a hefty £50m fee and bring in a talented prospect like Roberto Firmino who has a proven record in Germany’s top flight.

Reds Chief Executive Ian Ayre and manager Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that they are about to bring in the next South American star who can entertain the Anfield crowd much like a Luis Suarez or a Philippe Coutinho.

That will hopefully help the supporters forget about the Sterling departure.

Posted on June 24th, 2015 by scott
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