Roberto Firmino told his agent to do something 'not normal' during the final months of his Liverpool contract

03/29/2025 08:30 AM

All season long, Liverpool’s three, big expiring contracts have dominated the headlines.

With less than two months of the campaign left to play, the Reds stand on the verge of losing their captain, vice-captain and top scorer.

Hope remains that Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will re-sign to stay at Anfield, but there is now a resignation amongst supporters that Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving for Real Madrid.

Fans have been left fuming with Alexander-Arnold, with the Scouser’s silence seen as a cowardly way for him to sneak out of the back door at Liverpool.

Trent’s actions have led to many Liverpool fans recalling the behaviour seen by Roberto Firmino as he prepared for his own exit in 2023.

Firmino’s situation was of course different for all sorts of reasons. But as Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk head into what could be their final months with the Reds, it’s worth revisiting the ‘not normal’ request Bobby made of his agent at the time.

Roberto Firmino refused to negotiate with other clubs

Firmino is a true Liverpool legend. The Brazilian was the beating heart of Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League and Champions League-winning team and won supporters over with his introverted personality.

In truth, it felt as though there was nothing that could have elevated his status further as he approached his exit two years ago.

But then his agent, Roger Wittmann, spoke to the press in March 2023. With Firmino’s impending exit already announced, Wittmann revealed that the No.9 had prevented his representatives from speaking to any future employers until his contract with Liverpool had ended.

“Our plan for the next couple of weeks – this is the plan of Roberto – is to show the manager and Liverpool finally again the best version of him to say goodbye. This is what he wants to do,” the agent told journalist David Lynch.

READ MORE: How Liverpool would feel about letting Trent Alexander-Arnold join Real Madrid for the Club World Cup

“He has no clue what that means for him in the near future. He told us during the whole phase when we negotiated, 'I don't want to talk to anybody else, there's no need to do that'. He said it was a decision with the club.”

“This was the first time in my life he's a free agent player and he said there was no need to talk to others! So he's not motivated by other clubs or by financial terms – far away from that.

“The club gave him the time as well, no pressure. And he never started to compare asking us to talk to different clubs,” Wittmann added. “For us [it would be] easy but this was not his intention, it was just to find his own way. This is so far away from this normal business, believe me!"

Alexander-Arnold should learn from Firmino class

It is difficult to compare the situations of Firmino and Alexander-Arnold. However, it is fair to say that the legacy of each player will be affected by the way he leaves the club.

Firmino handled his own exit with grace and dignity. He respected the club and gave his all right up until his final minute on the pitch.

Trent, by contrast, is reportedly already finalising his contract with Real Madrid. With a Premier League title to be won, this is very poor optics from the right-back.

Of course, no one is expecting that discussions will not be going on behind closed doors. Firmino was an exception in that but with a move to the Saudi Pro League in the offing, his transfer was far less high profile.

Nevertheless, with so much noise coming from Madrid’s side, Alexander-Arnold could at least publicly speak, or take steps to ensure things are handled with more care in the public domain. Ultimately, when put up against Firmino, Trent’s clumsiness should serve to tarnish his legacy at Anfield.

As for Bobby, his status as one of Liverpool’s modern-day greats will endure forever.