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Firmino compared to Messi as TAA hails Brazilian the best No.9 in the world

  /  autty

The full-back thinks his Brazilian counterpart may not get the accolades awarded to Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, but he is just as important

Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has praised his team-mate Roberto Firmino by claiming he is the ‘best No.9 in world football’.

“The quality he possesses is unbelievable," Alexander-Arnold told Liverpool’s official matchday magazine. "He's one of the best, if not the best, number nines in the world. We wouldn't swap him for any other player.

"He is everything to us. We need Bobby to keep ticking. We need him to connect the play and join all the dots for us. Without him you see how much the team misses. It shows how much we really do need him.”

In fact, so highly does the defender regard Firmino, he has claimed only Argentina star Lionel Messi is better as a creative player.

“You'd struggle to name a better link player. Obviously there's Lionel Messi at Barcelona, but he's out of this world.

"If you're talking about the Premier League I think Bobby is the best and he is still so underrated for what he does for the team.

“Maybe the two other forwards, Sadio and Mo, get all the credit for their goals, but what Bobby does for them can go unnoticed. He drags defenders out of position so they can get in behind them and the way that he presses and wins the ball back is relentless. He's exactly what we need,” he added.