Stevie Nicol has claimed that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is open to selling Fabinho to Saudi Arabia side Al-Ittihad during the 2023 summer transfer window because his ‘legs have gone’.
Saudi Arabia are making a lot of noise in the transfer market this summer and it’s not just the ageing players they are looking to target or sign, but those players that are still at the peak of their powers.
Fabinho, who is only 29, could be headed for the Liverpool exit door and Anfield legend Nicol thinks Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff acknowledge that his ‘legs have gone’, hence why they are not bothered if he goes, as he told ESPN.
There is no doubt that there was a drop-off in form from Fabinho last season, but you could put a number of players in that boat, including the previously ice-cool Virgil van Dijk.
But whilst the hard-hitting Dutch defender is staying put, it seems as though Fabinho is set to join Saudi Arabia side Al-Ittihad and the Reds have left him out of their training camp to Germany, as reported by BBC Sport.
For Nicol, he thinks the signs and what those inside Liverpool really think about Fabinho are pretty clear.
“It’s funny, at the end of the season when we were talking about Liverpool’s midfield,” said Nicol.
“I said it’s interesting to figure out whether Liverpool, the coaching staff and Klopp, when they all get together and talk about the players, whether Fabinho had a bad spell or whether his legs might have gone.
“The fact that they are willing to listen to offers for him, and this stage, with pre-season already started, tells you that they think his legs have gone. That is what this tells me. If they can get £40 million for a guy who, they aren’t obviously desperate to keep him if they are going to let him go, then you take the money.”
Fabinho leaves a legend…
If this is indeed the end of the road for the Brazil star, then he will leave the club as a legend and someone who helped win it all.
Whilst the arrivals of Alisson Becker and van Dijk helped changed the tide for Klopp in winning the major trophies – the Premier League title and European Cup – the signing of Fabinho around that time goes under the radar.
The protection he provided to the back four was outstanding and a key reason why Liverpool proved to be such a difficult side to break down.
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