Fabinho Is Happy Right Where He Is.

It took a bit of time, but the real Fabinho has arrived at Liverpool. And also the Fabinho who can fill in at centre back.

The midfielder gave an interview to French publication L’Equipe (translated into English here, so be aware of the usual issues around translated interviews) in which he was honest about the time he had to wait to get into the side, but feels that things are going in the right direction now.

“It was clear that the time was going slowly”, the Brazilian said of his wait to get into the starting lineup. “Players are always in a hurry to play and I’m not different. I wanted to play and help the team, but I had to accept the situation.

“I arrived at a new club, with a new manager, a new style of play and I understood that I had to be patient. The staff encouraged me to work and not to give up. When the manager decided I was ready, he gave me my chance. Today I’m part of the rotation and I’m happy with that.

“Liverpool are a huge club that are having a pretty good time at the moment. So no, I didn’t regret my choice to join. I knew I could face this kind of situation [waiting to play]. This situation was a bit longer than I expected but now it’s okay.

Speaking of the fairly odd rumours around clubs being interested in taking him on loan from Liverpool, Fabinho dismissed the reports, stating that “I never thought about going anywhere else. I know a lot of stuff has been written in the newspapers but not all of it was true.

“What’s funny is that this rumour came out just before our game against PSG in the Champions League. I experienced this when at Monaco, before playing in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue against PSG in 2018. It’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it?”

Talking of the new manager, Fabinho was very complimentary, claiming that “[Klopp] never gives anything away. It is always about respecting the schedule, the quality and intensity of the training sessions and the focus, too. He always wants us to be 100% so we can do the same during the games.

“I’ve been on the bench enough to observe how he acts during the games. He shouts and screams his instructions. He’s electric.”

In terms of how he feels about some of his team mates, Fabinho admits a certain bias toward his compatriots, saying that “Firmino and Alisson astound me. During the first sessions at Melwood, Alisson made some brilliant saves and the lads were just like, “who the hell is that guy!?”

“Salah is also Marvellous. His ability to score goals is extraordinary. Mané has some fantastic dribbling skills… I’ll stop at this point otherwise I’ll name the whole squad.

“We really are a quality group.”

That’s what we want to hear, Fab. That’s what we want to hear.