It was seventh heaven for Liverpool last Sunday as the Reds trounced Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield. Applying what Martin Tyler described as the ‘cherry on the icing on the cake’ by scoring the final goal of the night was Roberto Firmino. The crowning moment came just 48 hours after Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg announced that Firmino will not be signing a contract extension at Anfield and will be leaving the club after eight successful years.
Many speculated online as to whether Bobby’s departure would mean the transfer committee looking for an attacker as part of their summer rebuild. Cody Gakpo appears to be the heir apparent for a central striking role, scoring two superb goals in last weekend’s hammering.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones whether Liverpool are likely to look to the transfer market to replace Firmino.
Neil said: “I think you can see straight away Diogo Jota’s impact that he can have on Liverpool. He makes them a very threatening side, a far more threatening side than they’ve been from much of this season. He’s still got a massive role. He signed a new contract last summer.
“You’ve got Ben Doak who’s played in the Premier League, shown a pretty good hand in what he’s done. You’ve got Kaide Gordon; we still need to see him come back from his injury, but he’s played in the Premier League. I don’t know if they would take on another senior signing.
Are Liverpool REALLY Considering Selling DIOGO JOTA?
“You’ve still got Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, who can move into the forward line either side. There are good enough options I think for a sixth forward. I certainly wouldn’t expect Liverpool to be going out targeting another Gakpo or another Núñez or another Jota, or another Díaz.
“I can’t see Liverpool being massively in for forwards this summer, it wouldn’t make an awful lot of sense in terms of what they’ve done in January, what they’ve done last summer, what they’ve done the previous January. They’ve been buying these forwards for this moment, to step up and be ready when the old guard are moving on.”
Redmen Reacts
With possible big-money transfers in midfield the priority, it seems unlikely that Liverpool will be looking to spend big on an attacker despite losing Firmino. After a quiet start, Cody Gakpo is beginning to flourish in a central role for the Reds. With Diogo Jota getting back to full fitness and Luis Díaz close to a return, Jürgen Klopp will have five quality options to choose from as he heads into next season. Ben Doak has been terrorising defences in under-18s football all year and has made some promising cameos for the first team, so hopefully, he can gain some first-team minutes next season. Fábio Carvalho has not managed much playing time in recent weeks but will have had a year at the club to bed in by the time 2023/24 comes around.
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