Fabinho leaves Liverpool and joins Saudi club Al-Ittihad

Fabinho (Pic: AFP)

Following in the footsteps of Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson, Brazil midfielder Fabinho left the club to move to the emerging Saudi Pro League. He joined Al-Ittihad on Monday, the team where Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté now play.

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

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His exit comes a week after Jordan Henderson left Liverpool after 12 years to join another Saudi team, Al-Ettifaq. Roberto Firmino also moved to the oil-rich kingdom after his contract expired at Liverpool.

The Saudi league hopes to raise the profile of soccer in the country by signing some of the world's top players. Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr in December post which many footballers followed.

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

Fabinho was not always a regular for Liverpool last season after a loss of form.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has overhauled his midfield by signing Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister and Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai, and the club is now searching for a holding midfielder to replace Fabinho.

"It's been five years wearing this jersey and always with the greatest honor and happiness possible," Fabinho wrote in a post on X, formerly 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 said Fabinho has signed a three-year deal.

(With AP inputs)