A few months ago, the prospect of Roberto Firmino replacing Liverpool’s famous red shirt with Al Ahly’s green shirt was a travesty. After all, the Brazilian was and remains a legend at Anfield.

His eight years at the six-time European champions saw him score 362 appearances, 111 goals and seven trophies, including the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup.

At the same time, Al-Ahly was in the second division after a sudden relegation.

Fortunately, the Jeddah Giants bounced back straight and are now preparing for a very exciting return to the big time.

The club, still without a coach following the departure of Pitso Mosimane, now have Edouard Mendy in goal following the arrival of the Senegalese goalkeeper from Chelsea in the last week of June. And now they have the Brazilian, long known as “Bobby” by Liverpool fans. It is another big coup for the league and especially for Al-Ahly, who are already back at the right time.

Firmino, who has signed a three-year contract, is a skilful and cunning player who creates and scores goals. A hard worker who can play in a variety of positions in attack, he is a dream for any coach and for his teammates and will certainly be missed next season by Mohamed Salah in England, although Al-Masry has also been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia. Liverpool fans will now be able to see Firmino in action as well as other Anfield legends Steven Gerrard and Robbie Fowler coaching in the country.

It is another example of top-level talent coming to Saudi Arabia from the English Premier League, which most people consider to be the best in the world. Just a few weeks ago, he was scoring goals against the Kop and now he is preparing to take Al-Ahly back into the upper reaches of the First Division.

After the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, Firmino is the first player from South America to arrive in Saudi Arabia this summer. Fans in Brazil will be watching how he performs for his new team. There are not many outstanding Brazilians in the country at the moment.

Those watching home should remember that this will not be an easy task for Firmino.

For example, Al-Ahly comes back to life in a big time. This is a big club and the players, much to Mosimane’s dismay, did not celebrate after winning promotion because they felt such an achievement for the team that won a third in the Saudi Arabian Championships as recently as 2016 was beneath them. Whether it was the right thing to do is a debate for a different time (Mosimane thought it wasn’t), but the club has been struggling for a while and while relegation came as a surprise, it wasn’t a huge shock.

Now expectations are growing that they will return to what they consider their rightful place in the top three or four next season. That’s not a given even with Mendy and Firmino. There are now 18 teams in the league and even those expected to fight relegation have firepower with strikers they could score if only given half a chance.

He will see Firmino with his own eyes. Even the likes of Ronaldo don’t get everything their own way, but if the former Liverpool player can help Al Ahly get off to a good start next season and can develop an understanding with his fellow strikers, this newly promoted side, not content with merely surviving, will be one to fear. The rest.

The arrival of Firmino shows the return of Al-Ahly in the big time.