No sooner had Liverpool fans around the world digested the news that club captain Jordan Henderson is considering a shock move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq, another story broke about a potential transfer for one of the club’s most experienced players.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported that Fabinho is being targeted in a possible £40million switch to fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad. The Jeddah-based outfit are majority owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and have recently signed N’Golo Kanté and Karim Benzema.
Liverpool’s number three did not enjoy the best of seasons in 2022/23 and some observers have called on the club to replace him. Fabinho’s wife Rebeca Tavarez later fuelled the speculation by following a Saudi travel page on Instagram. Are the Tavarez family already planning a new life in the Gulf state?
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked experienced LFC journalist Neil Jones for his reaction to the news.
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Neil said:
“From Liverpool’s point of view, I think that price was £40million… I think that’s bite your hand-off time for Liverpool.
“I don’t think Liverpool would obviously let him go without having a replacement in there… I actually think that won’t be as arduous a task as it might have seemed, to replace someone like Fabinho.
“I think that’s a hard one for Liverpool to say no to at this stage, regardless of whether you think he is capable of getting back to a level.
“Fabinho to me looked older than his years. I think it’s hard to say no to £40 million at this stage for any 29/30-year-old holding midfielder.
“I’ll be fascinated to see where they end up, whether it’s Lavia or whether it’s someone else, whether it’s Lavia AND someone else, whether it’s a completely unknown name, another Szoboszlai out of the blue.
“I said this is the most interesting and exciting pre-season Liverpool have had in years!
“It would be a huge risk for Liverpool to say, ‘No, we’re going to trust two teenagers to do the job.’ It’s such a pivotal job, isn’t it?
“It’s not a position that you can just say to a young kid, ‘Go ahead, just go and learn, but you’re playing every week as a number six in the Premier League.’
“I would say Liverpool would probably need more experience. You’re not going to just go down the kids’ route on that. You’re going to have to get some kind of guarantee in that midfield option.”
Redmen Reacts
There were points last season – such as immediately after the 3-0 defeat to Wolves – where Liverpool fans could have been forgiven for angrily demanding the club replace its entire midfield. If the transfers of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are to go through, then that situation will almost have played out. Such an overhaul could lead to instability in the early part of the season, with only Thiago (who is also the subject of transfer speculation!) remaining of the experienced midfield options.
Jürgen Klopp does not feel like the sort of manager who is comfortable with the ‘rip it up and start again’ approach, preferring to blood his signings over a period of time, especially in the middle of the park. However, the reported fee of £40million is a tempting one for a player who already looks to be past his best. The additional transfer funds could be used to source an ‘oven-ready’ replacement as opposed to gambling on a younger player. One thing is for sure, all bets are off as to who will be taking to the field against Chelsea in a month’s time.
TO HEAR MORE FROM NEIL ON THE FABINHO & HENDERSON, CLICK HERE
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