Fabinho: Liverpool Is a “Giant of a Team”

Well, this was certainly a surprise, wasn’t it? I was at work all day, and checked my phone to find out that Liverpool were maybe linked with Fabinho, then, minutes later it looked like there was some real interest as more connected journalists jumped on the story, until finally, less than an hour later, it was done and dusted. Monaco’s Brazilian defensive midfielder had completed his move to Liverpool in the blink of an eye, and just like that, Liverpool fans began to dig themselves out of the funk they’d been in the whole weekend.

I love the summer transfer window.

Fabinho had his first official interview with the club yesterday and opened up about his feelings about heading to Merseyside and joining Klopp’s ambitious project for next season and beyond.

“I am really excited about this move,” the 24-year-old told the official website. “This is something that I always wanted – this is a giant of a team. The infrastructures of the club look exceptional. I look forward to the time and the day I’ll put the shirt on and get on the pitch and see how the supporters welcome my arrival.”

“Other players that played here – they only say good things about Liverpool. What they said to me about when they played at Anfield, it makes me more willing to start playing for this football club. This was a very positive point for me to make my decision. Liverpool are in a league that is probably the best in the world, so there were many positive points for me to choose to come and I am very, very happy to be here.”

On the lightning fast completion of his transfer, Fabinho admitted that he expected all to go smoothly: “I knew that this move could happen very quickly. I was hoping that the move would happen fast, too, and I am very happy that the move happened at the beginning of the window.”

When asked to describe his game, Fabinho emphasized his skill at organizing a team and man marking in his role as a defensive midfielder. He also somewhat sheepishly admitted to wracking up some yellow cards, but “[he thinks] that won’t be a problem here.”

Liverpool have needed a proper defensive midfielder for years, with more attacking players like Jordan Henderson and Emre Can fitting themselves into that role for the last few seasons. It will be exciting to see how much more confidently they will play with a proper DM in the mix next season.