Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is reportedly ready to try to tie Roberto Firmino down to a new contract even though the Brazil international is no longer a regular starter for the Reds.
Klopp is supposedly still keen to keep hold of Firmino as a part of his squad, however, with Football Insider reporting that the club are expected to offer the 30-year-old a new deal.
While it’s easy to see why Klopp would remain loyal to a great servant like Firmino, it’s perhaps a bit of a weakness of the German tactician, who shouldn’t be afraid of doing more to freshen his squad up a bit.
Firmino may well still have more to offer, even if it’s only as a squad player, but there’s no doubt his form has dipped and Diogo Jota starting ahead of him is perfectly justified.
In that sense, Klopp has done well, as he perhaps recognised the need to make a signing like Jota with the view of eventually shifting Firmino out of the starting XI.
Liverpool fans could be justified in asking for even more ruthlessness from their manager, though, as Firmino shouldn’t really be kept around just because of what he did for the club in the past.
If anything, LFC should keep looking to the future, and once again try to make a Jota-esque signing who can come in and put pressure on the current forward players.
The best teams never stand still and rest on their laurels, so Liverpool should be thinking beyond Firmino now and focus on improving even more, rather than rewarding someone who is no longer as important as he once was.