Roberto Firmino tells Liverpool fans how he wants to be remembered at Anfield
Roberto Firmino cheerfully admits he will be in floods of tears as he says farewell to Anfield this weekend.
But even though he knows it will be a truly emotional occasion as the Liverpool support pays tribute to his unique talent - and massive contribution to one of the club’s all time great teams - he suggests it’s not goodbye, but farewell for now.
“It is time, unfortunately,” the Brazilian star revealed, as he spoke about his last game at the famous old stadium, before he leaves at the end of his contract in the summer. “The cycle here has ended and I understand it is time to go.
“I am very proud of everything that I have done here with the team, what we achieved together and the beautiful history we made together. I am very proud. Maybe one day I could come back, I don’t know, but it’s time to go.”
Come back as a coach? He is not ruling it out, and given his popularity amongst the Liverpool team, he would be the ideal character to promote harmony within Jurgen Klopp’s camp.
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"Maybe! You never say never,” he says of the prospect of coaching at Anfield. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future. It might be to play, you never know!”
Firmino speaks affectionately - and surprisingly well in English, given his excuse for avoiding interviews has always been that he is not confident with the language - about his eight years at Liverpool.
Despite his £29m price tag, little was known about him when he arrived in the summer of 2015 to join Brendan Rodgers’ squad from Hoffenheim, and he struggled in his early months, admitting: “Me and Brendan Rodgers didn't understand each other about my position on the pitch.”
Roberto Firmino towards the Liverpool fans after the recent win over Leicester (John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Roberto Firmino is set to leave Liverpool this summer as a hero after eight years at Anfield (Getty Images)Yet fate - or God, as he explains it - soon put him together with Jurgen Klopp, and the new manager created a ‘false nine’ position for Firmino, which has been at the heart of the incredible success the club has witnessed in recent years.
"I say we created it together but he'd say it was me! I tell him it was together,” he muses now with that trademark smile.
For many - and that includes an initially sceptical fanbase, it is Firmino who epitomises what Klopp’s team is all about. How does that make him feel now, as he is departing? “It is a privilege. That makes me happy. It is an honour.
“I worked very hard to be where I am now and this is the result of my hard work every day, and with the club and my team mates as well. I’m very happy to hear they would choose me as their favourite player.”
He is a legend amongst the fans, who sang his name for 15 minutes at Leicester, even though he wasn’t in the squad.
“A legend? I’m ok with that! It was the journey we had together, what we achieved together and the trophies we brought to the club all together.”
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That is why there will be so many tears at the weekend, because the band has been broken up. He will miss his team-mates, and especially the fans, who created that iconic Si Senor song for him.
“I will cry 100 percent. It will be emotional for me and for my family,” he says of the final Anfield game. “I knew when the fans created a song for me it was symbolic - it means they love me. That makes me proud."
He last sang it only two days ago - when his kids asked him to put it on in the car. His family all joined in, already reminiscing even before they go to different shores. So how would he like the fans to remember him?
There is a long pause and a concerned look. And then that smile again. “My generosity and my heart.” A fitting tribute indeed.
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