Brazil forward Roberto Firmino joins Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli
Firmino, widely known as Bobby, becomes latest high-profile player to move to the Gulf state after Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Brazil international bade farewell to Anfield in late May, scoring his 111th goal for the club during their last game of the season. / Photo: Reuters
Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino has become the latest high-profile player to complete a move to Saudi Arabia, signing for Al Ahli after his contract with Premier League giants Liverpool expired.
The club revealed his arrival at Al Ahli on Tuesday in a video posted to social media and comes less than a week after the team concluded a deal to sign Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Chelsea.
"I always played for big teams, now I'm in Al Ahli," Firmino said in a video on Al-Ahli's twitter account.
Al Ahli, based in Jeddah, has already signed former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy this offseason.
The Brazil international bade farewell to Anfield in late May, scoring his 111th goal for the club during their last game of the season.
Backed by the nation's sovereign wealth fund, the Saudi Pro League is luring big names from the major European leagues with the promise of huge salaries.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard took over as coach at Al Ettifaq earlier in the week, while Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante have also made the move to the Gulf state since Cristiano Ronaldo's switch to Al Nassr in January started the trend.
Bobby's legacy at Anfield
The 31-year-old, widely known as Bobby, left Liverpool after eight seasons at Anfield, during which time he scored 111 goals in 362 appearances and won the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup.
With Brazil, he won the Copa America in 2019.
Firmino, along with Egypt's Mohamed Salah and Senegal's Sadio Mane, became one of the best forward trios the Premier League has seen in recent years.
The trio helped improve the club and bring it back to the trophies ways after years of instability and average results.
After Firmino's departure this season and Mane's move to Germany's Bayern Munich last season, Salah is the only player of the trio to remain at Anfield.
At the Premier League level, Liverpool has 19 titles, only second to Manchester United with 20 titles.
The Reds also won the UEFA Champions League 6 times, more than any English club, and stand third behind Spain's Real Madrid [13 titles] and Italy's AC Milan [7 titles].
Al Ahli returned to the Saudi Pro League after spending the 2022-2023 campaign in the second division, but the team is still without a coach following the departure of South African Pitso Mosimane.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.