'I signed Roberto Firmino for Liverpool and here's how we solved what other teams couldn't'

Former director of research Ian Graham has detailed just how the Reds determined how to get the best out of following .

The Brazilian signed for Liverpool back in 2015 from Hoffenheim. Forming a deadly attack alongside and Sadio Mane, Firmino helped Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool win everything there was to win in club football, the pinnacle of which came in 2019 when the Reds hoisted their sixth Champions League crown in Madrid after beating Tottenham Hotspur.

However, while Firmino was undoubtedly a major success at Anfield, there was a time where the Reds were confused about just where his best position was; as a center-forward, an attacking midfielder or as a winger. In the end, Firmino ended up playing as a deep-lying forward who linked play with Liverpool's midfield and their two wide attackers in Salah and Mane.

And in excerpts from his new book 'How to Win the Premier League', Graham has revealed just how Liverpool went about finding out Firmino's best position which provided him a platform to go on to become a Reds legend. Graham wrote: "Borussia Dortmund were also interested in signing Firmino and had already offered €25m. We would have to pay more to secure his services. Eddy [Michael Edwards] was adamant that Firmino was drastically undervalued by the market and persuaded our owners to part with £29m to sign him.

"There were important points in Firmino’s favour that suggested he was undervalued: he was rarely injured, and had played nearly every game for Hoffenheim over the past four years. He was excellent in the air and was excellent at creating chances for others, despite his modest goal return (he’d scored 10 or more goals in only one of his four Bundesliga seasons). He could also play in three positions.

"The fact that Firmino played three positions should have been seen as a strength, but I think it was seen as a weakness – other teams didn’t know what to make of him."

Graham added: "From my point of view a multifunctional player is a huge asset: if Firmino can play in three positions, then less squad depth is needed in those positions because he can fill in there."

Graham continued: "We could use Firmino’s games as a striker to compare him to other strikers, and his games as a 10 to compare him to other 10s. The result was that, as a 10, he looked like one of the best young players in Europe. Most of the young players who rated better than him – Alexis Sanchez, James Rodriguez, Isco, Oscar, [Paul] Pogba, [Aaron] Ramsey – were playing for huge Champions League teams and completely unrealistic signings for Liverpool’s position in the pecking order in 2015."

Liverpool.com says: Roberto Firmino will go down as one of Liverpool's greatest. While he wasn't as prolific as Salah or Mane, he did score 111 goals for the Reds during his time at Anfield, laying on 75 assists too. If Salah and Mane were considered the drink, Firmino was the straw that stirred it, unselfishly serving as the perfect player to link up Liverpool's play that saw the team become arguably the most exciting in Europe during Jurgen Klopp's reign.