A few months ago, the prospect of Roberto Firmino swapping the famous red shirt of Liverpool for the green of Al-Ahli would have been laughed off. After all, the Brazilian was, and is, a legend at Anfield.
His eight years at the six-time European champions saw 362 games, 111 goals and seven trophies, including the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
At the same time, Al-Ahli were in the second tier after a shock relegation.
Fortunately, the Jeddah giants bounced straight back and are now preparing for a hugely exciting return to the big time.
The club, still without a coach after the departure of Pitso Mosimane, now have Edouard Mendy in goal after the Senegalese shot-stopper arrived from Chelsea in the last week of June. And now they have the Brazilian, long affectionately known as “Bobby” by Liverpool fans. It is another major coup for the league and especially for Al-Ahli who really are now back in the big time.
Firmino, who has signed a three-year deal, is a skillful, wily player who creates goals and scores them. A hard worker who can play in a variety of positions in attack, he is a dream for any coach and for his teammates and surely he will be missed next season by a certain Mohamed Salah in England, though the Egyptian has also been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia. Liverpool fans will now be able to see Firmino in action as well as other Anfield legends Steven Gerrard and Robbie Fowler coaching in the country.
It is another example of top-class talent coming to Saudi Arabia from the English Premier League, regarded by most as the best in the world. Just a few weeks ago, he was scoring goals in front of the Kop and now he is preparing to take Al-Ahli back into the upper reaches of the top tier.
Following the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, Firmino is the first big-name South American to arrive in Saudi Arabia this summer. Fans back in Brazil will be keeping an eye or two on how he performs for his new club. There are not many high-profile Brazilians in the country at the moment.
Those watching back home should remember that this is not going to be an easy gig for Firmino.
For one, Al-Ahli are readjusting back to life in the big time. This is a big club and the players, much to the chagrin of Mosimane, did not celebrate upon winning promotion as they felt that such an achievement for a team that won the third of its Saudi Arabian championships as recently as 2016 was beneath them. Whether it was the right thing to do is a debate for a different time (Mosimane thought it wasn’t), but the club has been struggling for a while and while relegation was a surprise, it wasn’t a massive shock.
Now expectations are growing that they will return to what they see as their rightful place in the top three or four next season. That is not a given even with Mendy and Firmino. There are now 18 teams in the league and even those who are expected to be battling against relegation have firepower with forwards who can score given just half a chance.
Firmino will see with his own eyes. Even the likes of Ronaldo don’t get it all their own way, but if the former Liverpool man can help Al-Ahli get off to a good start next season and can develop an understanding with his fellow forwards, then this newly promoted team, not content with mere survival, will be one for the rest to fear.
Firmino’s arrival shows that Al-Ahli are back in the big time.
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