“During the transfer window and even the month after it was a little difficult to live with the situation,” Fabinho admitted in December. “I had to leave, I did not leave, etc. But I do not think about it any more, the page is turned.”
A little more than six months later and the boy who left his home near São Paulo for the bright lights of Rio as a teenager has finally been granted his wish. Yet while his wife, Rebeca Tavares, could barely contain her excitement as she filmed their flight on a private jet from Madrid to Merseyside on Monday in a video posted later on Instagram, Fabinho managed to keep his cool as he responded to her impromptu interview.
“We’re landing in Liverpool in a few minutes. How do you feel?” he was asked. “What?” came the response. “How do you feel about Liverpool?” pressed his wife. “I feel good. Thanks.”
Monaco supporters will be used to such understatement from a player who prefers to do his talking on the pitch. Ever since Fabinho arrived in the principality as a fresh-faced 19-year-old, his conduct and attitude have been exemplary. Initially signed on a year-long loan from the Portuguese club Rio Ave having spent a season in Real Madrid’s Castilla side, he became a regular at right-back under Claudio Ranieri in Monaco’s first season back in Ligue 1 and was retained for another year when Leonardo Jardim took over as manager the following year.
But it was Jardim’s decision to switch Fabinho to a central midfield role in his third season at the club that transformed both his and Monaco’s fortunes. Having signed a permanent deal with the club that summer, the Portuguese immediately installed the 6ft 2in Brazilian at the heart of his exciting young team and reaped the rewards.
Securing the Ligue 1 title ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s expensively assembled squad in 2016-17 and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League during the same season was the culmination of that journey. Yet while Kylian Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, Tiémoué Bakayoko and Benjamin Mendy were all allowed to move on at the end of the campaign, it was telling that Fabinho was ordered to remain despite an informal agreement with his representatives, Jorge Mendes and the former Portugal midfielder Deco.
The result was a mediocre start to the season that may have ultimately cost him a place in Brazil’s World Cup squad, although the player who left Fluminense having never featured for the first team has since underlined his undoubted ability as Monaco secured Champions League qualification for a fourth successive year.
Manchester United initially appeared to be the most likely destination for Fabinho once Monaco decided to allow the 24-year-old to finally depart but despite holding talks last summer, and José Mourinho sharing the same agent, an offer did not materialise. In fact Atlético Madrid were the only club to have made a firm bid, of around £30m, until Liverpool’s offer blew them out of the water.
Liverpool’s relationship with Mendes, who arranged Fabinho’s move to Rio Ave in 2013, proved pivotal in the club’s latest intelligent move in the transfer market. Having already secured their record purchase of Naby Keïta from RB Leipzig last summer, the two new recruits will report at Melwood on 1 July as part of a squad that already looks considerably stronger than the party which lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
The addition of a high‑class holding player to complement the abilities of Keita, a Guinea international, Alex Oxlade‑Chamberlain, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson in midfield will provide more defensive stability for a sustained challenge for the Premier League title. But it was the influence of another of Jürgen Klopp’s current squad that persuaded Fabinho to take the plunge.
“I spoke on the phone with [the Liverpool forward Roberto] Firmino,” he told the French broadcaster RMC. “I know him personally ... I was able to speak with the manager and people who work at the club. They gave me a lot of confidence.
“I always said that this was a league that I wanted to get to know, where I wanted to play. You see lots of passion, crazy atmospheres in all the stadiums each weekend. I cannot wait to experience that.”
Fabinho could soon be joined by Nabil Fekir, with Liverpool understood to be in advanced discussions to sign the France forward from Lyon for around £60m. Even with the heartache of Saturday night in Kiev still fresh in the memory, Liverpool supporters will be already counting down the days to the start of next season.
