‘He could be next…’ – Fabrizio Romano drops claim on Liverpool trio after Firmino bombshell
Fabrizio Romano has identified three Liverpool players who could follow Bobby Firmino out the door this summer.
On Friday, it was revealed that the Brazilian forward would call time on his Reds career when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign after eight years at Anfield, and it appears that he won’t be the only member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad departing on a free transfer.
Taking to Twitter on Saturday morning, the Italian journalist stated (via @FabrizioRomano): “Not just Roberto Firmino. There are currently no talks between Liverpool and Naby Keita over new contract and he could be next one to leave on a free, together with Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“Arthur Melo, also expected to leave; #LFC are not planning to trigger the buy option.”
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In truth, it would not be the least bit surprising if all of the trio Romano mentioned were to leave Liverpool for nothing later this year, with all three of them set to be out of contract in June (Transfermarkt).
Keita is well into his fifth season as a Reds player but has started only 49 Premier League games for the club, with a mere three of those coming in the current campaign (WhoScored).
Injuries have plagued the Guinea midfielder throughout his time on Merseyside, while he has often failed to convince when given the opportunity to feature.
It’s been a similar story for Ox, who is now in his sixth year as a Liverpool player and has managed just 46 Premier League starts, 31 of which came prior to 2020/21 (WhoScored).
He too has seen his time at Anfield heavily impeded by fitness problems, most notably the serious knee injury which sidelined him for 12 months during his first couple of seasons at the club.
As for Arthur…it’s now been six months since he joined the Reds on loan and all he has to show for it is a 13-minute cameo off the bench in the 4-1 drubbing by Napoli back in September (Transfermarkt).
He too has been consigned to the treatment table for the majority of his time on Merseyside, and there seems little hope of his deal being made permanent in the summer.
Should that trio join Firmino in departing later this year without the receipt of a transfer fee, it would not make for glorious reading from a Liverpool perspective.
The combined outlay for Keita, Ox and our number nine was just under £117m, with none of that set to be recouped from their respective departures from Anfield.
You can check out the tweet from Romano below:
Not just Roberto Firmino. There are currently no talks between Liverpool and Naby Keita over new contract and he could be next one to leave on a free, together with Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Arthur Melo, also expected to leave; #LFC are not planning to trigger the buy option. pic.twitter.com/cPS6ufitJH
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 4, 2023
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