Liverpool Rumour Mongering: Reds Plan to Trade Firmino for Suarez

Here’s a fun rumour to chew on as you enjoy the weekend: Spanish outlets are reporting that the Reds might trade one current Kop hero for a former one. Gossip has swirled around Roberto Firmino as his goal output has dipped this season. A shake-up may indeed be coming to Anfield this summer, and there’s an interesting theory posited by the Spanish press as to what it will look like.

Anyone interested in seeing Luis Suarez back at Anfield? Klopp is, according to these sources, and Atletico Madrid have resigned themselves to losing the Uruguayan superstar. And so who should they get in return? Liverpool’s own Roberto Firmino.

Diego Simeone is a fan of Firmino and eager to bring the lovable Brazilian weirdo to Madrid to fill the void left in the team by Suarez.

The rumour sort of falls apart when you realize that this wouldn’t be a like-for-like move at all for Simeone, but there is no news outlet in Europe that can resist reporting on the possibility of an elusive and rare trade deal. It’s not stated as an outright trade, but the narrative intrigue that the Reds might switch one current star for their former hero is what makes this rumour so eye-catching, even if they’re two separate deals.

Would you want Suarez back at Anfield? And if so, would you exchange him for Firmino? Could Suarez do the selfless work that Firmino is known for and that the attack so clearly relies on? Or is Suarez’s quality worth the loss of Firmino’s tireless endeavour?