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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

Liverpool could be about to find out where Roberto Firmino's long-term future lies

That's the thing about Liverpool forwards. You wait ages for one to arrive then four turn up all at once.

Having scrabbled around for much of January in search of a combination up front, Jurgen Klopp now has a plethora of options.

Of course, he'll have to wait just a little bit longer for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, given the duo will scrap it out for the Africa Cup of Nations crown in Cameroon on Sunday.

But the earlier-than-expected £49million arrival of Luis Diaz from Porto has given Liverpool strength in depth they were not expecting when the winter transfer window was flung open at the start of the month.

READ MORE: What happened when Luis Diaz met Jurgen Klopp after touching down in Liverpool

READ MORE: ‘A club has to be ready’ - Jurgen Klopp explains why Liverpool signed Luis Diaz amid contract uncertainty

Throw in the return of Divock Origi, and Klopp has the kind of selection headache of which most managers could normally only dream.

Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Takumi Minamino were the main senior options throughout the last month, although Minamino was ultimately edged out by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and teenager Kaide Gordon.

As a consequence, both Leeds United and French side Monaco sought to tempt the Japan international away from Anfield, only for the forward to stay put.

Whether that stays the case in the summer remains to be seen. Origi, though, is almost certain to depart with his contract up at the end of the season and Liverpool seemingly unlikely to be able to trigger a clause to extend his stay based on number of games played.

Should Origi leave, it would leave Firmino as the longest-serving member of the attack.

And while there has been plentiful debate over both Salah and Mane - who also now have less than 18 months remaining on their contracts - the Brazilian's future has somewhat drifted under the radar.

Firmino was the first of the traditional front three to arrive at Liverpool, snapped up not by Klopp but rather Brendan Rodgers - although, it must be said, the Northern Irishman had to have his arm twisted by what at the time was dubbed the 'transfer committee'.

Within a few weeks, though, Rodgers had gone, having plonked Firmino on the right flank with negligible reward.

Klopp, a huge fan of the player during his time in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim, couldn't believe his fortune at inheriting Firmino, and instantly moved him to a central position.

We all know the rest, the forward joined first by Mane and then Salah while missing only a handful games over the next six seasons and becoming such an integral part of Liverpool's trophy-winning machine that he unwittingly made it increasingly difficult for the Reds to persuade players to join and fight for his position.

Only this season, with Diogo Jota the first to embrace the challenge of shaking up the established front three, has Firmino been displaced as a regular, not helped by a hamstring problem that has sidelined him twice.

But what happens over the next four months will be hugely instructive regards his future at Liverpool.

Now 30, he was left out of the Brazil squad for their recent World Cup qualifiers and hasn't played for his country since featuring in the second half of the Copa America final defeat against Argentina last July.

Firmino will surely be mindful of his prospects of featuring in the World Cup in Qatar in November - a tournament in which one of Mane or Salah will miss out with Senegal and Egypt facing each other in a play-off, Diaz looks unlikely to qualify with Colombia and Jota's Portugal have to overcome Turkey and then most likely Italy.

Six starts from the first 22 league games is by some distance Firmino's lowest appearance tally since moving to Europe more than a decade ago.

And how much he improves on that tally between now and the end of the season will give the forward a clearer idea of his standing as Liverpool's attacking evolution carries on apace.

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