It’ll probably come as no surprise to Liverpool fans that Bobby Firmino is reportedly at the centre of a four-way tussle between domestic rivals to try and snap him up on a free transfer.
The Brazilian said an emotional goodbye to Anfield last month after eight glorious years with the Reds, with the 31-year-old moving on from Merseyside at the end of his contract.
According to Goal Italia, there are four clubs in Serie A believed to be ‘thinking’ about a possible move for the forward – AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Juventus.
Of that quartet, only the former were dismissed in the report as an unlikely destination for Firmino, with a compelling case made for the other three sides.
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Assuming that a move to AC Milan is improbable due to their general preference for younger signings and prohibitive nature of the Brazilian’s £9m-a-year salary (Goal Italia), the other San Siro club appear to stand out on first glance as the most attractive option.
Buoyed by reaching the Champions League final, they’ll be in the competition again next season, and even if they grant Romelu Lukaku his wish of extending his loan from Chelsea for another 12 months (Goal Italia), the 31-year-old would surely represent a more dependable striker than the Belgian.
The latter did his case no favours with a glaring and ultimately costly miss against Manchester City in Istanbul last weekend, and even if his 14-goal return for the campaign was one more than Bobby, the Reds’ former number nine had the better average.
His 13 goals came in 1,710 minutes (one every 131.5 minutes), while the Belgium marksman’s haul was accrued over 1,988 minutes (one every 142 minutes), as per Transfermarkt.
Roma are also on the lookout for a striker after the long-term injury suffered by Tammy Abraham recently, although Firmino mightn’t be overly keen to pair up with Jose Mourinho after seeing his reprehensible antics on the night of the Europa League final.
It’d also represent something of a sideways step as the Giallorossi will be in that tournament again next term, along with the Liverpool side the 31-year-old has just left.
His chances of game-time at Juventus could depend on whether or not Dusan Vlahovic stays put, while Arkadiusz Milik has gone back to Marseille, and the Bianconeri are also likely to be able to afford Bobby’s wages (Goal Italia).
However, their Serie A points deduction consigned them to Europa Conference League football for 2023/24, which Firmino may view as a step down from the Reds.
All told, Inter may be the most appealing option for him; but whichever club he ultimately chooses to join, we hope they show him the same respect he’s earned at Liverpool and thoroughly deserves going forward.