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Jurgen Klopp was on holiday in July 2015, a much-needed break after a lifetime of high-stakes, high-stress work in football.

He had, in fact, “deleted all the numbers” in order to stop people within the game from contacting him. He had left Borussia Dortmund drained, worn down by hope and emotion, desire and disappointment.

Yes, in July 2015, football could wait. Relaxation was the aim. Liverpool was not on his mind.

Still, when news that the Reds had signed Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim reached him, Klopp noticed. He saw, he smiled, he approved.

“He was a player I thought was one of the best in the Bundesliga so, when I saw that Liverpool had signed him, I thought: ‘How could Liverpool do this?’” he would reveal.

“I thought immediately: ‘What a good transfer for them.’ I thought they had made a good signing because I felt pretty sure clubs would have paid a lot more for him.”

A few months later, of course, Klopp would be the man to benefit from that shrewd piece of business. He and Liverpool have been benefiting from it ever since.

On Sunday at Bournemouth, Firmino scored his 13th goal of the season, the most he has managed in a single campaign for Liverpool. His previous two have produced 11 and 12 – it is safe to say the bar will be set much higher this time around. He should threaten the 22 he managed for Hoffenheim in 2013/14.

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The goals, though, tell only part of the story. The same goes for the assists - he registered another at Bournemouth, if you’re counting.

More, it is about his ability to do a bit of everything, the way he leads the press from an attacking position, his intelligence and movement to drag defenders out of position, creating space for teammates, those deft little touches to change the angle of the attack. He really is some footballer.

Steven Gerrard certainly thinks so. Having played with Firmino in Liverpool’s post-season friendly in Sydney back in May, the former Reds skipper was blown away.

“To play with Firmino, especially, was an absolute pleasure,” he said.

“I would have loved to have played with him for a couple of years.

(Image: (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))

“He’s a very intelligent footballer. He’s on that same wavelength – he sees things.

“There are players and there are levels and he’s absolutely top level.”

Later, in a podcast interview with the ECHO, Jamie Carragher would express similar sentiments.

“World class,” was his assessment. When legends use such words, they stand out a mile.

He’s a hard player to categorise, a hard one to compare to. Not the speed of a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, not the ruthless finishing of a Robert Lewandowski or the muscle of a Romelu Lukaku. He is not usually one for the spectacular long-ranger, nor is he the archetypal target man. He’s not Harry Kane or Jamie Vardy, Luis Suarez or Edinson Cavani.

Rather, he is an amalgamation of all, a one-of-a-kind type of player, his skillset broader than most, yet less recognised than many.

Outside of Liverpool, that is.

Inside the club, the Firmino fan club is growing by the day. Steven Gerrard is signed up, Klopp, metaphorically speaking, is its president.

If Coutinho is Liverpool’s most talented player, Mane their quickest and Salah their most prolific, Firmino may just be their most important, the one they simply cannot be without.

When he performs, those around him perform, and so Liverpool perform. When he’s off or absent, it shows.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

One of Klopp’s first decisions was that Christian Benteke, who cost more than Firmino during that same summer, was not the man to spearhead his attack. One of his next was that Daniel Sturridge could not be relied upon to do so either.

Good players both – an exceptional finisher, in Sturridge’s case – they simply don’t provide what Klopp needs for this side. They don’t appreciate space as Firmino does, their off-the-ball work is not as good, they do not allow others to flourish.

Firmino’s unique talents, his specialist skills, are the main reason Klopp didn’t look to bring in a ‘marquee’ striker during the summer just gone. No Aubameyang, no Morata, no Lacazette – no need, says the manager. It’s 67 goals and counting for the Reds so far this season, 50 for the Firmino-led ‘fab four’; maybe he had a point?

“Roberto scored twice,” Klopp remarked after Liverpool’s win at Brighton last month. “But what he did around these goals is what excites me the most, to be honest.

“In all the counter-attacks, pretty much, he won the ball. By being here, by being a little annoying, a little foot, a little toe, that for us is important. Then the ball is go.”

The story was the same on Sunday. Afterwards, Klopp mentioned that much of Liverpool’s pre-match analysis had centred on stopping Andrew Surman, the Bournemouth midfielder, from getting on the ball and dictating play.

Firmino was key to that, his pressing and positional awareness allowing Liverpool’s midfield players to play on the front foot and deny space. Time and again, they won the ball in the opposition half; Surman’s influence was minimal, the Reds’ 4-0 win could have been much, much more.

That game, the Brighton game, Maribor or Spartak, Arsenal or Hoffenheim; they show Firmino at his best, Liverpool at their best.

The two, undeniably, are linked. The False Nine is a Real Talent. And surely everyone recognises it now?

Liverpool fans certainly do.