Fabinho follows Henderson in leaving Liverpool to move to Saudi Arabia

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool misplaced one other midfielder to the rising Saudi Pro League on Monday when Brazil midfielder Fabinho joined Al-Ittihad, the group the place Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante now play.

Fabinho moved for a reported 40 million kilos ($51.5 million) to finish his five-year keep at Liverpool, which he joined from Monaco.

His exit comes every week after Jordan Henderson left Liverpool after 12 years to hitch one other Saudi group, Al-Ettifaq. Roberto Firmino additionally moved to the oil-rich kingdom after his contract expired at Liverpool.

The Saudi league hopes to lift the profile of soccer within the nation by signing among the world’s high gamers. Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr in December.

The 29-year-old Fabinho made 219 appearances for Liverpool and helped the membership win the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League a yr later.

Fabinho was not all the time an everyday for Liverpool final season after a lack of type. Liverpool supervisor Jurgen Klopp has overhauled his midfield by signing Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister and Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai, and the membership is now looking for a holding midfielder to exchange Fabinho.

“It’s been five years wearing this jersey and always with the greatest honour and happiness possible,” Fabinho wrote in a publish on X, previously generally known as Twitter.

“Since day one at Liverpool, I’ve been embraced by everyone. What I saw inside this club, the relationship between the people there, made me feel like family. In these five years, I grew as a player, as a man, I made dreams come true.”

Al-Ittihad stated Fabinho has signed a three-year deal.