Fabinho departed Liverpool for the Saudi Pro League in the summer of 2023.

A brilliant central defensive midfielder, who was a key part of Jurgen Klopp’s success at Liverpool, the Brazilian was moved on as the German oversaw a midfield rehaul.

James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho all departed in 2023, and Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai all came in to take their place.

It was a departure that, at the time, surprised many, given Fabinho’s perceived importance to the team.

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The Brazilian midfielder had played 219 time across five years at the club, almost always as a first choice.

He was never on the periphery of the side, but was seemingly made to feel surplus to requirements by Jurgen Klopp following a conversation with the manager.

Fabinho has opened up on his Liverpool exit for the first time.

“I didn’t want to leave the club and go to any other club in Europe.

I thought it was the best place in the world to play, to keep developing as a player.”

“Al-Ittihad made an offer for me and the Liverpool directors said it was very good for the club and for me.

I thought I was an important player and that they would refuse any offer, but I realized that the club was open to selling me.”

Fabinho on his talk with Jurgen Klopp:

“I said [to him] that I’d heard the offer and liked it but I wanted to hear from him what he thought.

He said that if there are any players who want to leave, he won’t hold them back.”

“It was a speech that kind of opened the door for me to leave.

That conversation with the coach could have kept me at the club but he left it open and I didn’t like it very much.”

“Liverpool is a club I love but the things that happened at the time steered my life towards Arabia.

I left in pace and happy with my decision.”

Fabinho is gearing up for this third season in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad.

The club will embark on the new campaign with the goal of retaining the league title, after they clinched the Saudi Pro League title in May.

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