To lose four senior midfielders in one transfer window could be considered a reset. To lose five will be a demolition.
Fabinho and Jordan Henderson’s imminent moves to Saudi Arabia intensify the pressure on Liverpool to continue the radical restructure of their central zone. The speed and effectiveness with which Jurgen Klopp and his recruitment team unveil a new No 6 will determine how destabilising it is.
For a while, Fabinho was as good as anyone in Europe in the specialist role. On the surface, a significant price from Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad for a 29-year-old, who at times last season looked like his legs were 10 years older than the rest of his body, makes sense. With Henderson close to leaving too, such judgement must be reserved until an alternative has proven himself fit for a modern Liverpool legend’s shirt.
Fabinho started to resemble his old self once Trent Alexander-Arnold’s “hybrid role” ensured he was not the sole shield for last season’s vulnerable back four. For all the need for a younger model, Fabinho would have been the ideal tutor to ease in a maturing replacement.
Alexander-Arnold might be the most obvious solution, his transformation into a No 6 made permanent if Klopp decides to sign another right-back. The Liverpudlian has to be a contender for the captaincy, too. He will get the armband sooner or later. Virgil van Dijk is the natural successor to Henderson, but at 32 he will not be the skipper for the next 10 years and a symbol of the club as Alexander-Arnold could be.
Tchouameni, Lavia and the other players on the radar
Even if Alexander-Arnold is completely remodelled as a midfield general, Liverpool’s willingness to sell Henderson and Fabinho means Klopp must find a top class midfielder in an absurdly expensive market.
The Merseyside club have been adept at pulling rabbits out of hats in the transfer market, often blindsiding those offering hourly, occasionally imaginative updates about who they really want.
Several targets have been highly sought. France’s Aurelien Tchouameni was the subject of an Anfield bid last summer. Logic suggests he is the one Klopp really wants if Real Madrid decide to sell. Should Real finally secure Kylian Mbappe, they may need cash, but that saga looks like it has a few miles to run.
Southampton’s teenager Romeo Lavia has been on the radar all summer but there are indications he was earmarked as a long-term, not immediate, Fabinho replacement and might be too young for so much responsibility. That said, Liverpool have not been averse to playing down the attainability of players they end up signing a few weeks later – they did so before buying Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai – so the recent softening of their stance may have more to do with trying to test Southampton’s £50 million asking price. That still looks better value than the £80 million Fulham are quoting for Jaoa Palhinha, who is 28 and hardly fits the FSG profile.
Any consideration of Kalvin Phillips will be most surprising. Liverpool officials have often given the impression they would be reluctant to give Manchester City a speck of dirt off a football boot, let alone several million for one of their cast-offs. On recent evidence, Phillips does not look an upgrade on peak Fabinho, so he is low on the list of potential recruits.
Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat – a World Cup 2022 star and target for Manchester United – would certainly excite the Kop more, and appears to be available for a realistic price.
Then there is Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch, who has been referenced so often this summer with regards to a Liverpool transfer. Either someone at the club really likes him or his agent is obsessed with getting him to Anfield.
The Saudi-Newcastle connection
Fabinho’s and Henderson’s exits were not anticipated until a few weeks ago. Now the Saudi interest has the potential to wreak havoc, especially if they do not stop there. It is a fascinating sub-plot that Fabinho’s likely new club, Al Ittihad, are backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund behind Newcastle United.
At what point does a PIF sponsored league throwing around cash to unsettle Newcastle’s Premier League rivals become a sporting integrity concern? Paying the going rate for those past their prime is one thing. Making life-changing salary offers for someone such as, say, Luis Diaz would change the dynamic entirely.
A strong argument can be made to justify the exit of all five midfielders: Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, Henderson and Fabinho.
But all within three months? That’s a tough sell. It’s a smart buy that Liverpool need now, and quick.
