After Saturday’s Champions League final disappointment, Liverpool Football Club decided to boost the morale of their fans by announcing the signing of AS Monaco midfielder Fabinho. The Brazilian player is said to have cost the Merseysiders around £39 million plus add-ons.
With Emre Can expected to leave the Champions League runners-up on a free transfer this summer, Fabinho is a welcome signing as the former Rio Ave player will really bolster Jurgen Klopp’s side. Another great advantage with this signing is that the German manager will be able to work with his latest player throughout the pre-season as Fabinho did not make Tite’s Brazilian squad that will travel to Russia for the World Cup.
Naby Keita, who agreed to join the Reds on a pre-contract last summer, will also be available during pre-season, enabling Klopp to freely work with his two new midfielders.
If rumours are to be believed, Liverpool are in the market to sign another midfielder in the name of French international Nabil Fekir and if the deal does go through we will be seeing a new look Liverpool midfield next season.Here are five things you might not know about the latest addition to Liverpool’s squad.
#5 Reportedly rejected Manchester United and Atletico Madrid to join Liverpool
The 24-year-old had been heavily linked with Liverpool’s Premier League rivals Manchester United since last season. When his Monaco teammates Bernardo Silva and Tiemoue Bakayoko made their moves to England, Fabinho was expected to join the Red Devils.
Since the start of the summer transfer window, there had also been reports that strongly linked the now Liverpool player to La Liga’s side Atletico Madrid. A £30 million bid was even said to be placed by Los Rojiblancos according to French media outlet Le 10 Sport.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Inter Milan are few other clubs to be linked with Fabinho. In an interview earlier this year, the player himself confirmed that there was genuine interest from some of the clubs and ‘was close to one of them’ before Monaco blocked the move.
#4 Mr. Reliable from the spot
Fabinho boasts a pretty good record from the spot. The former Rio Ave player has scored 19 out of the 20 penalties he has taken. His only miss came in a Champions League tie against German side Borussia Dortmund last year when he kicked the ball wide off the left side of Roman Burki’s post.
The Brazilian midfielder’s penalty record in the Ligue 1 is invincible as he has found the back of the net each of the 15 times he has taken responsibility from the spot. Fabinho has also scored more penalties than anyone else in Europe’s top 5 leagues since 2015/16.
#3 Shares the same agent as Cristiano Ronaldo
Although Fabinho is a Brazilian, his football career in the South American country was short as he moved to Portugal within no time after graduating from the Fluminense academy. It was one of football’s biggest agents, Jorge Mendes, who looked after the then 20-year-old’s career and still remains his agent till date.
The 52-year-old is also the agent of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, James Rodriguez, Angel Di Maria and more. Mendes, being Mourinho’s agent has helped the manager in the signing of several players and the same was expected with Fabinho before Liverpool lured him to Anfield.
#2 Former Real Madrid player
Yes, Fabinho has played for Real Madrid. In 2012, the Brazilian made a loan move to RM Castilla from Rio Ave and during that period he managed to get one appearance for the Real Madrid senior team.
Although he was brought to the Real Madrid reserves side, the then 19-year-old was handed a senior team debut against Malaga in La Liga. Fabinho came on for Fabio Coentrao and played just 14 minutes. However, he was able to get one assist to his name after setting up the team’s sixth goal by Angel Di Maria.
#1 Played under Jose Mourinho
Being linked with Manchester United and sharing the same agent are not the only connects Jose Mourinho and Fabinho have. The Brazilian has in fact played under the Portuguese manager. Well, you might have already understood if you paid close attention.
Fabinho’s debut and only appearance for Real Madrid was given by none other than the Special One himself. So there is no surprise at all that the Monaco midfielder was linked with a reunion with the 55-year-old, but the fact that there are so many connections between the two should make one think why the 24-year-old moved to Liverpool and not United. Is it Fabinho who rejected Mourinho? Or is it Mourinho?
