After pulling together heartfelt boxes of presents for Liverpool personnel, Roberto Firmino has strengthened his position as a legendary figure in the history of the club.
On Saturday, Firmino played his farewell game at Anfield for Liverpool, scoring a thrilling late goal off the substitute’s bench in a match against Aston Villa. The Brazilian moved to the club in 2015 from Hoffenheim, and the match against Southampton on Sunday will be his last one with Liverpool before moving on to another team.
As the years have gone by, he has established himself as the most popular player at Anfield thanks to the fact that he has played in 361 games across every division, registered 110 goals, and contributed 79 assists.
Firmino is highly regarded not just because of his brilliant play on the field but also because of his demeanour off it. His fellow players and those who work at the club will be disappointed to see him go at the end of June when his agreement with the club comes to a conclusion.
Throughout the weekend, Firmino was honoured with a hero’s send-off, which included a guard of honour at Anfield after the match against Villa.
Fans had the opportunity to say their farewells to Firmino as he strolled across the field in a state of grief before he, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, and James Milner were each given a gift as a leaving gesture.
After that, on Sunday, the 31-year-old had a farewell party at the stadium, where attendees were served a three-course dinner as part of the festivities. Firmino, as well as Jurgen Klopp, the manager, and Jordan Henderson, the club captain, all delivered speeches.
But that wasn’t everything: Firmino also made arrangements for a gift package to be presented to each and every visitor at the party, including club staff, teammates, friends, and family.
On the exterior of the classy-looking box was printed his name and a gold emblem, and on the inside was written, “Thank you for being a part of this story.”
There was a sequence of events that detailed the high points of Firmino’s career with Liverpool over the last eight years, including winning the Premier League and the Champions League.
In addition to that, it included a specially formulated perfume and a signed Liverpool Firmino No. 9 jersey. The shirt had the words “Si Senor” written on the inside of the neck, and “With love, Bobby” was written beneath the emblem.
The Brazilian, who had a very tumultuous weekend both on and off the field, showed his gratitude with a heartfelt gesture, which was quite moving.
His departure evokes memories of that of his former teammate Sadio Mane, who, before departing Liverpool for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022, thanked all of the staff members at the club with a handwritten message and a box of chocolates.
As a result of Firmino’s departure, Mohamed Salah will be the only one of the remarkable scoring trio still playing for the club. Together, the three of them scored for the club an unbelievable number of times. Klopp provided an explanation for Firmino’s one-of-a-kind skill over the goodbye meal.
“You are so football smart, and during practises you are the very first individual to get to the exercise,” Klopp stated to the player.
“It’s almost as if you’ve seen it before: ‘Ah, okay, go for it.'” It is really remarkable, and it helps to shape you into the player that you are today, with all of the technical things; yet, your football head is phenomenal. That’s all excellent, and it makes you even more of a player than you already are.”
