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Roberto Firmino is loving life at Liverpool and has vowed to stay for “many years”.

The Brazilian attacker has proved a massive hit for the Reds since his £29million move from Hoffenheim in the summer of 2015.

After a tough start when he battled to adjust to the demands of the Premier League, he has blossomed under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp .

Firmino, who is settled in Merseyside with his wife and two daughters, bagged 11 goals last season and has hit the net seven times already this term.

“I think I have already changed my way of playing,” Firmino said.

“First of all because I was adapted to the European style of football due to playing in Germany with Hoffenheim for three years. But then I had to make another adjustment because English football and the Premier League is much, much faster.

“You really do notice that the pace is very high here but it is a type of football that I enjoy.

“I am giving my best to the team like all the other players and everyone is happy with the work they are doing. That’s reflected in the football we are producing and the fact that everyone is enjoying themselves.

“I love playing here and hopefully it is something I can continue to do for many years.”

Firmino revealed that his obsession with the game meant that as a young boy he would sleep with a football in his bed.

He was single-minded and determined to prove that he could make the grade. But growing up in the state of Alagoas in the north east of Brazil he needed some help from friends and family.

“I would say that I owe most to my cousin and my uncle and I have to thank them in particular,” he told Liverpool’s official matchday programme.

“They were the ones who started taking me to football matches when I very young. When I was about six I started sleeping with a football and I began playing for the smaller teams when I was seven.

“My persistence and my willingness to become someone in life also drove me on because I am the kind of person who persists a lot with what I want to achieve.”

It was dentist Marcellus Portella who famously helped him land a move to Figueirense in his homeland and from there he was snapped up by Hoffenheim.

“I was playing in the Brazilian Serie B in Alagoas and I had no-one representing me,” Firmino revealed.

“Marcellus came on board and gave me a lot of support and effort. I was very young and he has been a very close friend.

“I’d like to think I have been good to him too and he has been good to me. I love talking to him and I respect him a lot.”