ROBERTO Firmino has joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli on a three-year deal after leaving Liverpool.
The Brazil forward, 31, was a free agent after his Liverpool contract expired at the end of last season.
Firmino scored 111 goals in 362 games for the Reds after joining from Hoffenheim in 2015.
He is one of several big-name signings by Saudi clubs this summer and joins Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy at Al-Ahli after he left Chelsea last week.
N’Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly have also left Chelsea for Saudi Arabia, with Karim Benzema, Ruben Neves and Marcelo Brozovic among the others to move, while ex-Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has become manager of Al-Ettifaq.
The trend underlines the league’s ambition to be one of the top five in the world and follows a decision in June by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns Newcastle United, to take over four leading clubs in the country.
Firmino left Anfield as a free agent this summer, along with Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner.
The departing quartet were given a generous ovation from team-mates and fans after the final game of the season, but it was modern-day great Firmino who took the loudest applause.
Forming a devastating attacking trio with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, he helped Liverpool win the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League in 2020 and both the FA Cup and League Cup in 2022.
Firmino also scored the only goal in extra time as Liverpool beat Flamengo to win the Fifa Club World Cup for the first time in December 2019.
It was announced in March that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
