Rodgers: No pressure on Firmino

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has attempted to alleviate the pressure on Roberto Firmino ahead of his debut Premier League season.

The Brazil forward was confirmed as a Liverpool player last month, joining from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim for a fee which it is believed could rise to between £25million and £30m.

With Raheem Sterling having made a big-money move to Manchester City this week, Firmino will be tasked with helping to fill the attacking void left by the England international.

But Rodgers will not expect too much, too soon from his new recruit. 

"He's a top-class player," said Rodgers. "He's obviously played in Europe, so he understands and played in a very good league.

"Of course, there is no pressure.

"He'll come into the Premier League and Lucas [Leiva] knows as well as anyone as a fellow Brazilian that coming in, it just takes that little bit of time to adapt.

"He's got all the traits and the profile of what we would want as a player - he works very, very hard, he's a talented player and someone we feel can score goals for the team.

"I'm really excited and looking forward to him coming in."