Jurgen Klopp could not do without Roberto Firmino in his Liverpool squad - according to the striker's fellow countryman Fabinho.
Firmino - who arrived from Hoffenheim for a fee of £29m four years ago - has amassed 66 goals in 191 appearances for the Merseyside outfit in all competitions. However, it is not just his attacking skillset that makes him such an integral part of Klopp's team, with his work-rate and dedication of equal importance to the German's preferred style of play.
Firmino's Brazilian compatriot Fabinho was only purchased from Monaco last summer in a £39m deal, yet the latter has already been impressed by his countryman's abilities.
During an interview on the Hoje Sim podcast (as quoted by Sport Witness), Fabinho stated: "At Liverpool, [Firmino] is the perfect player there for that position because he’s a smart guy, a guy who helps a lot in the build-up.
"He's a guy that - from time to time - I see on the side recovering balls. I say, ‘Thanks, Firmino, cheers for the help.’ And with our characteristic of the two open players, he helps a lot because he scores goals and gives players the ball to score goals as well.
"And Klopp says that an irreplaceable player for him is Firmino," the 25-year-old revealed. "And I’m going to talk about my vision: I’ve always liked him a lot, but when you follow him every day, you realise that the guy is different. The guy is very good."
Unfortunately for Fabinho, he was not included in Brazil coach Tite's 23-man squad for the Copa America this summer. However, Firmino played the entirety of the Selecao's quarter final clash with Paraguay, with the former winning the tie on penalties to set up a last four meeting with Argentina.
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