‘We will miss him’ - Jurgen Klopp pays tribute to Fabinho after Liverpool exit

Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to Liverpool midfielder Fabinho after he became the latest player to join the Saudi Arabian Pro League yesterday.

The 29-year-old finally completed his move to Al-Ittihad, becoming the second player from the squad to join the Middle East after Jordan Henderson signed for Al-Etifaq last week.

Fabinho joined Liverpool in 2018 from Monaco in a £43.7m deal and went onto make 219 appearances for the club, scoring 11 times. His presence in midfield helped the club to secure seven trophies including the Premier League and Champions League and he was certainly a key player throughout his five years at the club.

Klopp said his farewell to the Brazilian when speaking to LiverpoolFC.com in Singapore, wishing him all the best for the future after being a key lynchpin in his side since his arrival.

“Of course we wish him all the best. Fab was for so long the insurance we had more or less in midfield. He always gave us the freedom to play all the fancy stuff. He was involved in that from time to time as well but loved to be the hoover for the team, loved to do all the dirty work for the team.

“Together with the centre-halves, when both full-backs were flying right and left, all the strikers, all the midfielders somewhere and then just Fab and the two centre-halves when it looked, ‘Oh OK, if we lose the ball, there’s still a few players at least who can sort that.’ And he was massive.

“So yeah, we will miss him, definitely. But again, it’s like it is. Life is about changes – that’s always – and you obviously have to adapt to them. If you don’t do that, if you stick in the past, something will hold you back – and I’m not that person.

“So that means in these times a lot of things happened and they will happen. That’s all about it. And yes, we will miss Fab – but Fab will be fine, we will be fine and we always will be thankful to each other. That’s, for me, very important in life.

“So all the best, my friend, and hope to see you soon.”

Fans will look back to his destructive performances in midfield and remember crunching tackles that often set the tone for Klopp’s side. There was also moments of magic across his time at the club including his piledriver from distance that opened the scoring against the reigning champions Manchester City during the 2019/20 season which set them on their way to their maiden title.

Plus, he also gave fans a cheeky panenka at Wembley during the Carabao Cup final win against Chelsea - in fact, he never missed a penalty for the Reds. Fans will miss his dominating presence at the base of midfield and now the search for the ‘next Fabinho’ stands as an incredibly important decision to get right. There are certainly big shoes to fill.