Much more to come from Firmino – Klopp

Roberto Firmino’s impressive performance against Manchester City last weekend is just the start for the Brazil attacker, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

The 24-year-old’s Anfield career has got off to a slow start following his £29million move from Hoffenheim in June but he produced an inspirational display in last Saturday’s 4-1 destruction after being moved further forward.

Klopp was unsurprised by Firmino’s display at the Etihad Stadium, with the German convinced there is still more to come from the Brazilian.

“I did not know him as a person before I came here but I knew him and liked him as a player [in the Bundesliga] and he is still not 100 per cent to where he can go – not even close yet,” the former Borussia Dortmund coach said.

“We spoke at the beginning and you could tell from his face he is looking forward to working together. I know him very well so he doesn’t have to do something special [to convince me].

“He is a big physical talent, really strong, it is not easy to get the ball from him. He is the complete offensive player.

“He is fast in a special way and very, very good at shooting, something we have not seen here until now.

“So still there is a lot to come and it is a good situation for the club.”

Firmino netted 49 goals in 153 appearances for Hoffenheim and Klopp highlighted the key differences of playing in Premier League.

“Roberto came from a club in Germany in Hoffenheim and it is a small one – very good players – and he was playing under not the biggest pressure,” he said.

“Then he made a transfer to a big club like Liverpool with all the things together – the pressure, the public, the media.

“You need time. He looks older than he is in terms of experience.

“Then he had some problems with his back injury, then not the best situation for the whole team.

“You come as a new player in a team that doesn’t work perfectly in this moment – they don’t get result after result. So that’s a situation for him.”