'The straw that broke the camel's back:' Firmino opens up over Liverpool exit
Suraj Radia
- 9 Nov 2023 11:14 CST
- 4 min read
Roberto Firmino has opened up over his exit from Liverpool, revealing the moment he knew when he had to leave the club and how he broke the news to Jurgen Klopp.
Firmino was a fan favourite during his eight years at Anfield but opted to move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli on a free transfer this summer after his Liverpool contract expired.
The 32-year-old has revealed the details behind his departure in his new book ‘Si Senor: My Liverpool Years’, admitting that ‘the penny dropped’ after being brought on as a substitute in the last minute during the Reds’ game against Wolves in March, which was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back.’
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However, Firmino insisted ‘it wasn’t a war’ and he had no bitterness towards the club but ‘the signs had been there’, he had just been ‘stubborn’ in believing he may still have a future at Liverpool.
As collated by ThisIsAnfield.com, Firmino wrote: “God didn’t want me to stay in Liverpool, but I was insisting. I didn’t listen. But I couldn’t avoid it any more. It was time to accept. I decided it was time to seek another challenge for myself, another purpose. My time at Liverpool had come to an end.”
He added: “If it was difficult for them [Liverpool] to say, well then I would say it: ‘I’m not staying. I’ll go’. If deep in their hearts they weren’t sure about extending my contract, if they didn’t know what to do, then for the good of everyone I would make the decision to leave.”
Klopp ‘awkward’ during Firmino meeting
Firmino spoke about his meeting with Klopp where he told the Liverpool boss about his desire to leave and he admitted he thought the German felt ‘awkward’ during the conversation.
He wrote: “‘There are things that are not in my hands. I don’t have control over everything’, the Boss said. He accepted the decision very quickly. One of my fears was that he would insist on me staying. I had already made the decision guided by God and didn’t want to backtrack now. It had been hard enough getting this far.
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“He had fought to keep my friend Philippe Coutinho a few years back; I didn’t want the same to happen with me. Now, having finally accepted the inevitable, I took the step I had never wanted to take.
“But no, Klopp didn’t insist. At that moment, it seemed like he already knew, or had come to terms with the idea. There would be no extension. It was over.”
However, despite the conversation lasting ‘less than five minutes’, both Firmino and Klopp shook hands and agreed that they would focus on the remainder of the season in order to give the Brazilian a fond farewell.
