Liverpool have wasted no time in making a statement of intent after swiftly concluding a £43.7million deal to sign Monaco star Fabinho.
The Brazil international will officially join the club on July 1 but arrived on Merseyside on Monday with his agent, Jorge Mendes, to complete his medical and agree personal terms that will keep him at Anfield until June 2023.
Liverpool have made an initial payment to the Ligue 1 side of £39.4million, with add-ons worth £4.3million being triggered around objectives such as qualifying for the Champions League.
He will replace Emre Can, who is seemingly bound for Juventus when his contract expires, and Fabinho will be the first addition of an ambitious summer overhaul that is likely to see the Champions League finalists spend £150million on new additions.
Jurgen Klopp is determined that the momentum gained from the run to Kiev, which secured Liverpool prize money of £67.71million, will not be lost and other targets include Lyon’s £60million-rated playmaker Nabil Fekir and Alisson Becker, the Roma goalkeeper.
But the first move has been swift and impressive. Liverpool enquired about Fabinho last summer, at the time they asked Monaco to be kept abreast of developments for Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar and Benjamin Mendy, and have continued to follow him.
Fabinho, who had been linked with Manchester United and Paris St Germain among others, was clearly impressed by Liverpool’s form in Europe this season and he has immediately set his sights on winning silverware.
‘I am really excited about this move,’ Fabinho said. ‘This is something that I always wanted – this is a giant of a team. The infrastructures of the club look exceptional.
‘A football club of this size coming after my services? I didn’t have to think that much about coming over.
‘I will try to create my own history at this football club. Hopefully, on a personal level, I’m able to win titles with this club. I will try to grow and learn and improve myself, and to be part of the club’s history.’
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