English media reported on Friday that Brazil national football team striker Roberto Firmino will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, eight years after joining Anfield.
The 31-year-old decided to leave the Reds for free instead of extending his contract, which expires next summer, according to Sky Sports and BBC.
Firmino, who scored 102 goals in 352 games with the club, played a key role in Liverpool’s return to the top of English and European football under the leadership of German coach Jurgen Klopp.
Firmino, who joined Liverpool in 2015 from German Hoffenheim, won many titles with Liverpool, most notably the European Champions League (2019), the English Premier League (2020), the FA Cup (2022), the English League Cup (2022) and the Club World Cup (2019).
Firmino, who formed a terrifying attacking trio with Egyptian internationals Mohamed Salah and Senegalese Sadio Mane, who moved to Bayern Munich last summer, left Club’s plans this season, preferring Portuguese Diogo Jota, Colombian Luis Diaz, Uruguayan Darwin Nunez and Dutchman Cody Gakpo.
Firmino is considered one of five Liverpool players whose contracts expire at the end of this season, whose officials have embarked on a major rebuilding of the team.
Guinean midfielders Naby Keita (28 years) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (29 years) are expected to leave, while the future of veteran captain James Milner (37 years) and Spanish third goalkeeper Adrian (36 years) is shrouded in uncertainty.
