The Prem millionaire who scores great goals then saves some souls

FIRMINO'S NETWORK OF CHURCHES

- Charles Yates

WHEN not scoring goals for Liverpool and Brazil, footballer Roberto Firmino has been netting for God with a network of five churches around the planet. While many Premier League stars splash out on a playboy lifestyle envied by fans, Roberto and his wife Larissa have bankrolled an evangelical church.

The £180,000-a-week striker was worshipped by the Anfield faithful for the past eight years, having scored 111 goals for the Reds.

Firmino, who officially leaves the club next month, has even been honoured with a tribute mural on the gable end of a row of terraced houses close to the hallowed turf he graced.

But he puts all this success down to a greater force. Firmino’s latest church is about 30 miles down the East Lancs Road from the Kop – close to the home of Liverpool’s arch-rivals Manchester City and United.

The star and his wife now appear as directors of Manah Church in Salford, set in an ornate former cinema building.

It takes its name from the first church they established in Roberto’s home city of Maceió, in the Alagoas region of northeastern Brazil.

Pastor Jairo Fernandes and his wife Keila moved from the coastal city to Salford, to help set up the new church.

A family friend said: “Thanks to Roberto and Larissa, the property is undergoing a painstaking renovation to offer the community a place for worship. They hope to restore the building to the full glory of when it was originally built.”