Since Jurgen Klopp took over as manager of Liverpool back in October 2015, the German has delivered the club their first Premier League title and their sixth Champions League trophy, firmly cementing his place as a club legend.
In his time at Anfield, he has used a significant number of players in his team, but none more so than Roberto Firmino, who has made more appearances under Klopp at Liverpool (296) than any other player.
Since joining the Merseyside club from Hoffenheim back in the 2015 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £29m, just a few months before Klopp set foot in Liverpool, the Brazilian has made a total of 303 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, scoring 93 goals and providing 70 assists along the way.
Despite making 11 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions so far this term, a recent report from The Athletic has claimed that Firmino has now gone past his peak age.
With this in mind, and with that the 30-year-old’s current contract set to expire in the summer of 2023, there’s every possibility that the club will be looking at potential long-term replacements for him in the near future.
Taking this into account, the Merseyside club may not have to look too far when it comes to an ideal long-term replacement for Firmino.
Teenage centre-forward Oakley Cannonier rose to fame when he made a quick throw to set up the famous corner which was quickly taken by Trent Alexander-Arnold to assist Divock Origi in their 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2019 when he was a ball boy, which led to him being called “intelligent” by Jose Mourinho.
During his time in the club’s youth ranks, the 17-year-old has impressively scored 16 goals in as many appearances for Liverpool’s under-18 side, with 12 of those goals coming in eight league appearances this season.
Not only does this show what a goalscoring hotshot he has been for the under-18s, it also suggests that he could well go on to become Liverpool’s long-term centre-forward by the time Firmino leaves. That would be very exciting for fans at the club to see another young hero work his way through the youth ranks to become a regular goalscoring figure for the first team.
Also, with Firmino having been questioned in the past over his goalscoring consistency, it doesn’t seem as though Cannonier would have this issue if he continues to rack up as many goals as he has been doing in recent times.
In other news – Time to shine: Klopp must unleash “quality” LFC gem after James Pearce drops big blow
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