Senior Liverpool star to not travel to Singapore for pre-season as Middle East move beckons

Fabinho won’t travel to Singapore with the Liverpool pre-season squad as Al-Ittihad move draws closer

As per a tweet from Paul Joyce of the Times, Liverpool midfielder Fabinho will not travel to Singapore for the pre-season camp as the move to Al-Ittihad beckons.

A couple of days ago, the Athletic (subscription required) revealed that the Brazilian’s move to the Saudi Arabia club was in jeopardy. The deal is believed to be worth around £40m.

But, if the latest tweet from Joyce is anything to go by, it seems like the move is longer in doubt. Both parties are willing to get the deal over the line as well.

Here’s the text version of the tweet linked:

“As it stands, Fabinho won’t be travelling to Singapore with Liverpool. Al Ittihad deal progressing and all parties committed to getting it done.”

A few days ago, the 29-year-old was not a part of the Liverpool pre-season camp in Germany due to the impending transfer. Since Singapore is the last camp before the actual season starts now, being left out of this sends us the message of affirmation that he is off.

On the face of it, this is a move that suits all parties. Fabinho was underwhelming last season and had shown signs of gradual decline.

The Brazilian will soon be 30 years old, hence the chances of him regaining his elite form are minimal. Lastly, Liverpool get a hefty fee from his sale that can be used to make a couple of additions to the squad in this transfer window.

The Reds have already started the midfield rebuild by signing Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. They are working hard to get Romeo Lavia in the coming hours or days.

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If and when the latter is done, there should be a focus on adding a young centre-back. In the two pre-season games against mediocre oppositions so far, the Reds’ back-line has looked fragile when Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are not playing.