FABINHO HAS REVEALED the role ‘agent’ Roberto Firmino played in his move to Liverpool, with a fellow Brazilian helping to talk Jurgen Klopp into a €45 million deal.
Back in the summer of 2018, a versatile performer was edging towards the exits at Monaco.
Clubs from across Europe were eager to secure his services, but it was those at Anfield who moved quickly to get a transfer over the line and leave their rivals empty-handed.
Fabinho admits a switch had been mooted for some time before getting over the line, with Firmino convincing Liverpool that they should be snapping up another South American.
“I remember that after one of my games for Monaco, against Marseille, where I’d played well and scored, Firmino sent me a message and we started to talk,” Fabinho told Esporte Interativo.
“He said: ‘the coach asked about you, what I thought about you, I talked you up a little bit’.
“We exchanged some messages for a while and I asked him some things about Liverpool and that was it for a while.
Then Liverpool reached my agents, made them aware of the interest and set up a meeting with Klopp. We talked about his ideas for the team, work routine, tactics, physical training.
“My interest was rising, because I had always said that if I were to leave Monaco, it would only be to a team that really wanted me.
“I was very happy with Liverpool wanting to sign me and then made up my mind that it was the right thing to do. It was quick, right after the [Champions League] final against Real Madrid, the signing was made official.”
While delighted to have secured a transfer to Liverpool, Fabinho was made to wait for a Premier League bow.
It was October before the 25-year-old made his top-flight debut in England, but impressive progress has been made from that point by a versatile performer now preparing for a Champions League final outing against Tottenham on Saturday.
“I played pretty much all the pre-season games, thought that I played well, and because of that, also thought that I would start playing earlier, not wait as much I did,” Fabinho added.
Others players made sure that I was relaxed, they told me: ‘don’t worry, everyone that arrives goes through that, like [Andy] Robertson and [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain’.
“I was calm, tried to learn about the team, the other players, getting used to the intensity of the league.
“After a while, Klopp gave me the chances and little by little I could show my value and that I could be important to the team.”
Gavan Casey is joined by Murray Kinsella and Sean Farrell for a review of the 2018/19 season, and cast an eye forward to next year and the Rugby World Cup in Japan.:
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