£180,000/week attacker reports for Liverpool pre-season ahead of interesting 2022/23 role NewsNow
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£180,000/week attacker reports for Liverpool pre-season ahead of interesting 2022/23 role

£180,000/week attacker reports for Liverpool pre-season ahead of interesting 2022/23 role

Roberto Firmino has rejoined the Liverpool pre-season squad, linking up with Luis Diaz on Tuesday as pre-season slowly ramps up.

Liverpool's squad is currently undergoing a week of testing and training at their training complex in Kirkby.

The team will head out on an international tour before finishing off at Anfield, just six days before the start of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

Fans will be excited at the thought of a fully fit Firmino and be intrigued to see how a full pre-season will benefit January signing Diaz.

Liverpool's Pre-Season

Liverpool have a full schedule for the next four weeks as they prepare for the upcoming season.

After a week of testing, the Reds fly out to Bangkok to face Manchester United in a friendly on July 12th.

They then face more Premier League opposition in Crystal Palace three days later in Singapore before facing RB Leipzig and then RB Salzburg.

Finishing off their preparations is the Community Shield against Manchester City before another friendly a day after at Anfield vs RC Strasbourg Alsace on July 31st.

What can we expect from Diaz this season?

After signing in January from Porto, it's safe to say Diaz gave Liverpool a real spring in their step for the second half of the season.

£180,000/week attacker reports for Liverpool pre-season ahead of interesting 2022/23 role

His energy, skill and work-rate helped the Reds win two trophies and narrowly miss out on the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

Despite hitting the ground running, fans will be eager to see how he fares after a full pre-season with his teammates in the hope he can re-create the form which saw him impress last season.

With Mane sold to Bayern Munich, he is now the first choice starter for that left-wing role and now the pressure to perform in that role grows given how often Mane came up clutch for Klopp's side.

According to Spotrac, Firmino earns £180,000 per week and if he can end his final season with the Reds in style, fans will have even more appreciative of their Brazilian dazzler.

Diaz contributed six goals and five assists in 26 games for the Reds but if he had played a similar amount of games as Mane or Salah (51) he would only have finished the season with around 12 goals and 10 assists - based on the same form.

Comparing it to Liverpool's other attackers, Mane finished the season with 28 goal contributions and Salah with 51; this shows a potential area of improvement and a goal for Diaz to aim at given the demands of this Liverpool team.

What will Firmino's role be this season?

Firmino was the first of the famed front three to arrive at Liverpool back in 2015 and the Brazilian has been an ever-present under Klopp up until the last two seasons.

His game time has been reduced due to lack of form, injuries and the arrival and then form of Diogo Jota from two seasons ago.

We also expect his role to be reduced once again with the arrival of Uruguayan Darwin Nunez to that of a backup forward role.

Despite contributing 11 goals and six assists last season, Firmino was plagued with muscular problems, hamstring and foot injuries which will have frustrated the Brazilian who had been blessed with a fairly clean injury record during his time at Anfield.

A full pre-season injury-free will help Firmino in his reduced playing role. However, Klopp will require his services with Divock Origi, Mane and Takumi Minamino's departures this summer.

He will, however, have one eye on the World Cup in Qatar, as he aims to play his way into the exciting Brazilian squad capable of success this winter.

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