Brazilian midfielder Fabinho has completed his medical with Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad as his move to Saudi Arabia approaches the final stages.
According to Ben Jacobs, Fabinho will sign a three-year contract with the Saudi side. The verbal agreement was reportedly done yesterday according to Romano and the Liverpool midfielder is set to depart Anfield after winning all there is to win since he joined the club from Monaco back in 2018.
A £40 million fee for the midfielder was agreed, but the deal was delayed due to the payment terms rather than anything to do with the Brazilian’s dogs according to Ben Jacobs. The rumour around Fabinho’s dogs was a bizarre Twitter rumour that was dominating the app, but that has now been quashed.
The Brazilian leaves Anfield having won the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, The midfielder will go down as a modern-day Anfield icon. With multiple midfielders departing Anfield this summer, Fabinho has become the latest as Jurgen Klopp’s side embark on a midfield rebuild.
What will he offer to Al-Ittihad
The Brazilian, who began his career at Real Madrid before moving to AS Monaco, has an exceptional range of passing which is shown by his 88% pass completion rate for the Anfield club last season according to FBREF. His presence in the midfield has allowed Liverpool’s other midfielders to push forward and help Liverpool in attack.
The risk for Jurgen Klopp’s side, having signed Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, will be they don’t have the defensive security that Fabinho offers. Despite Liverpool being interested in Romeo Lavia according to The Athletic, whether the Belgian can offer the defensive solidity that the Brazilian can remains to be seen.
Defensive solidity will be exactly what the Saudi Pro League side will be getting with the midfielder. Having also brought in N’Golo Kante, Al-Ittihad suddenly have a superb midfield base but they may struggle to create chances with a lack of creativity from the midfield pairing being evident.