Roberto Firmino history can't be rewritten as Mo Salah and Liverpool know truth of $82m imitation

In the end, $36m (£29m/€34m) was a bargain sum for the signing of Roberto Firmino, but that wasn't always the perception. Early on at Liverpool, the Brazilian struggled to find his best role before he then established himself under Jürgen Klopp.

Having arrived from Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, Firmino was someone that Klopp knew well. And when he came into Liverpool a few months after the forward, it was the moment of change that was required. Brendan Rodgers hadn't known how to use Firmino but he then became a false nine, and the rest is history.

Indeed, there is an argument that Firmino is the player who best sums up what Liverpool was like at the peak of Klopp's tenure. Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk might have something to say about that, but it was Firmino who was credited with knitting everything together and he was the first player to be truly transformed when Klopp came in.

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Firmino ended up scoring or assisting 183 times in 362 games for Liverpool — almost exactly a goal or an assist every other appearance for the Reds — and while he tailed off towards the end as he declined physically, he departed for Saudi Arabia as a legend.

For all the good work that Kai Havertz, who moved to Arsenal last summer for $82m (£65m/€76m), has done then, comparisons with Firmino are more than a little premature. In fact, it appears to have already been forgotten just how effective Firmino really was.

"Havertz is doing a similar thing to what Firmino did at Liverpool," Gary Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. "He drops in, he links the play, he provides a goal threat, but he’s subservient to the team. He’ll do whatever the team needs during a game.

"Remember for large parts of this season there were large question marks over Havertz, but he’s become a really important figure. I used to think that Firmino was a wonderful player for Liverpool.

"[Sadio] Mané and [Mohamed] Salah used to get all the main plaudits and the credit, but I always used to mention Firmino because of the way he played, connecting midfield with the attack. Havertz is doing something similar."

In style, yes — Firmino is the model that Arsenal is eyeing with Havertz. In terms of his impact and ability level, though, there is still a long way to go before the two can be compared.

Salah and Mané both scored 20-plus Premier League goals playing on either side of Firmino at his peak. He also scored 27 goals and notched 17 assists himself during his best Liverpool season in all competitions.

It was a one-off to some extent with the rest of his seasons not quite as free-flowing in terms of finding the back of the net, but the others were not as low-scoring as many remember. His average per season was around 14, brought down by a couple of years where he was injured and less of a regular feature in the side.

Havertz could get to Firmino's level eventually but the idea that he is at that stage already is far too early. This season to date, the German forward has 13 goals and seven assists in all competitions — good, but not even close to the same level. Firmino matched or beat those numbers in five separate campaigns.

On either side of Havertz, Bukayo Saka has 16 league goals this season and Leandro Trossard has 12. Not all of that is down to the man playing down the middle of course — and he hasn't played in that role for the full campaign — but peak Firmino was a master creator on a completely different level.

The last couple of years of Firmino were not the Brazilian's best at Liverpool. But recency bias shouldn't let anyone forget his level. At his peak, he was streets ahead of Havertz and a key reason for Klopp's biggest successes.