Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided a fitness update on out-of-contract forward Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian will leave the Reds on a free transfer at the end of the 2022/23 season after eight years of service at Anfield.
There have been concerns that Firmino has already played his final game for the club though having missed the last six games with a muscle problem.
Speaking after Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Leicester City on Monday during which travelling fans chanted Firmino’s name and heralded him at full-time, Klopp revealed there is a chance of the forward returning for their final home game of the season against Aston Villa.
“It [the chanting] was so cool. I’ve never seen anything like that [for somebody who wasn’t playing],” Klopp said.
“I think he has a chance of playing [against Villa]. We drive home, Tuesday is a day off – not for him but for the others – and then Wednesday he will be in team training, that is my information.
“We have to see. The Saturday game is a super difficult game for plenty of reasons. Probably farewell around the game for a few players, and then playing for absolutely everything against the second or third-best team in the Premier League for the second part of the season. That’s super challenging.
“In the middle of everything, we have to win the game. But around that, we want to show the respect and appreciation and love we feel for not only Bobby but all the boys who will leave in the summer. It will be a special day with a difficult game in between.”
After this weekend’s game with Aston Villa, Liverpool end their season with a trip to Southampton.
They remain in the hunt for a top-four finish following a run of seven successive wins, sitting just a point behind Manchester United and Newcastle United.
Which team will Roberto Firmino join?
90min reported last summer that Juventus were interested in signing Firmino, though at that point Liverpool had no interest in letting him go.
Firmino has since been tentatively linked with a move to Barcelona, who again are in need of signing players on free transfers due to their ongoing financial woes.
Source: 90min.com