Gabriel Agbonlahor has told Liverpool that they should sell Bobby Firmino now that Darwin Nunez has been officially announced as a Red.
The 22-year-old completed his move from Benfica earlier this week, subject to a work permit, and has signed a six-year-deal on Merseyside.
This move has led ex-Aston Villa forward Agbonlahor to admit that the signing of a new forward was ‘needed, but claimed that our No. 9 ‘is not good enough’ to remain at the club.
“They needed to do it. Regardless of whether Mane stays or goes, they needed another attacker,” the 35-year-old told Football Insider (via Transfer Tavern).
“Firmino is not good enough. He’s done well for Liverpool over the years but it’s time for him to go.
“You’ve got to keep up with other teams, you can’t stay still. It’s a big statement signing.
“I’m sure Man City were buzzing when they signed Haaland and now they’ve seen Liverpool get Nunez they will think it’s going to be a hard season and it’s hard to call.”
Firmino has entered the final 12 months of his Anfield contract but there are currently no signs of the former Hoffenheim man leaving the club.
He’s been a pivotal part of the side ever since Jurgen Klopp arrived in 2015 and although he may no longer be a regular starter, he certainly has a lot still to offer and can be a big player for us next season.
He registered 11 goals and five assists in 35 games for Liverpool last term but did miss a significant amount of games with numerous injuries.
The Brazil international should be applauded for how he appears to just get on with his job and not kick up a fuss if he’s not in the starting XI.
He’s a unique player that has mastered the false-nine role in recent years, but with the signing of Nunez, Klopp may be looking to refresh his tactics ahead of the new campaign.
Just because the Uruguayan has arrived at the club doesn’t mean Firmino needs to be sold though – we need to ensure our strength in depth remains.
Another of our main attacking stars, Sadio Mane, is set to leave the club for Bayern Munich this summer, so it wouldn’t make sense to lose two of our main men in one window.
We played the maximum 63 games across all competitions last season and if play anywhere near that number of games next term, Bobby can still prove he has a big role to play.