Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he was left "a little bit" surprised by Roberto Firmino's decision to leave the club this summer.
The 31-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, informed the Reds last week that he would not be renewing his deal and would embark on the next chapter of his career in the 2023-24 season.
Firmino's exit will spell the end of a highly successful eight years at Anfield for the Brazil international, who arrived from Hoffenheim in 2015 when Brendan Rodgers was still in charge.
Injuries and competition for attacking places have seen Firmino's influence wane over the past 12 months, but the South American remains a hugely popular member of Klopp's squad.
Speaking to the media ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash against Bournemouth, Klopp admitted that Firmino's decision left him slightly taken aback, but he is confident that the striker will be welcomed back with open arms in the future.
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"Yes, he told me. Surprised? Yes, a little bit but I was not hit by surprise, actually it's a normal thing to do. It could go two ways and it was one. And I respect that a lot," liverpoolfc.com quotes Klopp as saying.
"It's completely normal in this kind of long relationship that we have and Bobby has with the club and with most of the players and stuff like this, and with the fans of course.
"It's pretty special and I loved the reception he got when he came on against United. He told me and then the only other thing he said is, 'Now I want to bring this wonderful story to a positive end.' So, that's it. He is completely here and completely committed, how everybody can imagine. And that's all we need to know.
"There's no time for a goodbye or whatever in this moment, there's enough time for that later in the season. Whenever he will come back, everybody knows that the song will still be for a long, long time in everybody's ears I'm pretty sure.
"No problem. I think he's one of these players that even when he would come with an opposition team, people would be really happy to see him."
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After his decision to leave was confirmed, Firmino scored his 10th goal of the season off the bench in last weekend's 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, taking his overall tally in Liverpool colours to 108 goals and 79 assists in 354 games.
Firmino is in line to make his 355th appearance for Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium, where Klopp will be without Luis Diaz, Joe Gomez and Thiago Alcantara, but the former could be back in full training from knee surgery next week.
When asked for a team news update, Klopp said: "All three not available [this weekend]. Different stages, I would say. Joey might be able to train at the beginning of the week; Luis I hope during next week. After the international break, then obviously for both [it's] possible.
"Thiago we will see. None of them trained yet with the team and then we will see how that develops in the next couple of weeks and we will know more. Apart from that, from the last game nothing [new] that I heard about."
Victory for Liverpool over Bournemouth would temporarily lift them into the top four of the table over Tottenham Hotspur, who kick off against Nottingham Forest a couple of hours later on Saturday.
Ben Knapton
