Liverpool are certainly trying to ensure they keep their best talents for as long as possible. The Merseyside club is enjoying one of their best starts to a Premier League campaign and have been aided by an incredible attack led by Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane.
While Coutinho is out injured, the onus of the attack has fallen on the shoulders of Firmino and the former Hoffenheim man has scored five goals in the Premier League this season. It would be inevitable that interest for the players would be growing from some of the bigger clubs and the Guardian claims that Firmino has a get out clause of £82m, but there is a catch to it.
The contract states that any club would have to pay £82m to get the Brazilian attacker but Arsenal are not included in the clause. The Gunners would have to stump out a lot more presumably if they do want to sign Firmino and it does seem to be a special “anti-Arsenal” clause.
A history of failed transfer dealings with Arsenal
Many will remember Arsenal angering Liverpool when they tried to sign Luis Suarez on the cheap. It was a well-known fact that Suarez could have been bought had a club spent close to £40m and Arsene and Arsenal decided to add just one more pound to the fee.
Liverpool relented and kept Suarez, while even the owner John Henry tweeted about the ridiculous offer from the London club. Many have suggested that had Arsenal spent close to £50m that time for Suarez they could have ended up winning the league but the Gunners have not picked up the title in more than a decade.
Switching to Firmino, the Brazilian has been great for the Reds this season but he will have to step it up as Coutinho faces a long time out with an injury. The former Hoffenheim striker has kept out Daniel Sturridge from the starting line-up and needs to continue his good form up front as the Reds are third in the league.
Firmino did not have the greatest of games against Bournemouth as he was invisible throughout but he will have a chance to show his ability in the match against West Ham during the weekend.
The amount specified to sign the Brazilian does seem to be a little high and was probably made to ward off any interest from any club. More importantly, it was done to ensure Arsenal have no chance of signing him now or in the future and even upset them a little bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvpNqBBwJdM
