After months of speculation, it appears as though a decision has finally been made in regard to Roberto Firmino's future at Liverpool.
The popular Reds striker has spent just shy of eight years on Merseyside, winning a glut of trophies and netting 107 goals in the process. He is due to be a free agent in the summer when his current contract expires, and there have been whispers that the Brazilian international would opt to quit Anfield after falling down the pecking order.
Despite previous reports claiming that the club had held 'positive talks' with Firmino over a new deal, it has been claimed that the 31-year-old has decided to bow out at the end of the season before moving onto pastures new.
According to Sky Sports Germany, Firmino personally informed Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp on Friday that he will not be renewing his contract and will instead look for a new club at the end of the season.
Firmino's decision comes just months after Klopp weighed up selling the striker in order to pursue a deal for Rennes forward Martin Terrier. Eventually, the Reds chief decided against selling Firmino or signing Terrier and instead snapped up Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven on Boxing Day.
Although Klopp insisted at the time of Gakpo's arrival that the Dutchman would not impact discussions over Firmino's future, the Reds now have an abundance of forward players at their disposal after refreshing up their frontline over the past 12 months. Luis Diaz arrived at Anfield last January while the club shelled out on a record deal to acquire Darwin Nunez from Benfica back in June. In between those two deals, Liverpool lost Sadio Mane, who quit the club to join Bayern Munich.
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Those personnel changes saw Firmino drop down the Anfield pecking order, but the veteran has still managed to bag nine goals and four assists this term and remains popular with Klopp.
The popular forward's agent Roger Wittmann outlined that talks over a new deal were progressing last month, and he also predicted that an outcome to those discussions would start to take place by around the end of February. He labelled talks with Liverpool as "really good" but did leave the door open for an agreement to be struck elsewhere.
“It’s a long relationship between Roberto and Liverpool. Roberto is comfortable. At the moment we are in a great exchange and in February we will probably know where the journey is going," Wittman told Sky Sports Germany last month.
“But Roberto also has to have a say in order to find an agreement with Liverpool. We are on the right track. We have really good talks with Liverpool. It’s an outstanding club.”
