Leaves Liverpool after 8 years
With Roberto Firmino, the next football star from Europe is about to move to Saudi Arabia. As transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports, the 31-year-old attacker, who is letting his working paper at Liverpool FC expire, has reached a verbal agreement with newly promoted Al-Ahli SFC. The last step before signing a contract until 2026 is the medical check, which is still pending.
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At the future club from the Saudi Pro League, the Brazilian would meet goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, whom he knows from duels with Chelsea. The 31-year-old decided to join Al-Ahli SFC a few days ago and became the second most expensive over-30 goalkeeper for a fee of around 18.5 million euros. Earlier this summer, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté (both at ) as well as Blues centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and Wolverhampton’s Rúben Neves (both at ) also made the move to Saudi Arabia. More top-flight players are set to follow after Cristiano Ronaldo (to Al-Nassr FC) kicked things off in January.
Roberto Firmino left Anfield after eight years and is now moving on a free transfer – with a market value of €18m, he is currently the second most valuable player in the Premier League whose contract is ending and who is still without a new employer. The offensive player switched from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to the Reds in 2015 for 41 million euros, where he has since won the championship (2020) and the Champions League title (2019). He provided 111 goals and 79 assists in 362 competitive games for Liverpool.
With Firmino: Liverpool FC’s most valuable departures
Like Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli belongs to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has made it his goal to bring the 2030 World Cup to Saudi Arabia and to use sport to achieve a better image for his country, which is often criticized for its human rights situation.
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