If Fabinho leaves as predicted, Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp will be forced to change their summer transfer plans.
Fabinho was not on the flight to Germany with his teammates for the preseason training camp, it was reported on Saturday. Fabinho chose to stay out of the spotlight while Liverpool negotiated a transfer to Al Ittihad, who made a proposal of over £40 million.
The arrival of the defensive midfielder, along with a number of other significant additions to Klopp’s squad in 2018 and 2019, served as a spark for the Reds’ transformation from challengers to recurrent title winners.
Even with a minor decline in performance approaching what appears to be the conclusion of his Liverpool career, the void left by Fabinho will be challenging to replace, especially given the present political climate. However, all good things must come to an end.
Even if there is a long list of promising potential possibilities, the Reds currently need ready-made. Because of this, Joao Palhinha, the current Fulham pivot, is the only alternative that is particularly intriguing.
Experience in the Premier League: check. Capped internationally, absolutely. The statistics provided by Fbref.com after that speak for themselves.
Palhinha, who moved to England last summer from his hometown club Sporting Lisbon, played a crucial role in the Cottagers’ excellent campaign, which saw them avoid the drop from the top division for the first time since the 2012–13 campaign. Playing 34.5 out of the 38 league games on average last season is the first appealing feature of Palhinha’s game. Fabinho finished with a score of only 29.7.
Additionally, the Portugal international has shown he possesses the skills necessary to absorb play and launch assaults in the same manner as his conceivable predecessor.
The Fulham player nearly quadrupled Fabinho’s tackles per 90 minutes, registering 4.26 per game as opposed to 2.19. Furthermore, across the board, these were completed at a higher rate. Fabinho made a total of 18 tackles in the defensive third, 40 in the middle third, and only 7 in the attacking third during the 2022–23 season. The sums for Palhinha’s three thirds are 58 for the defensive, 65 for the middle, and 24 for the attacking.
Regarding his attacking prowess, there are rumors that Palhinha could handle a degree of tempo against a team that values the game’s counterattacking element. To begin with, he averaged 20.7 less touches per game than Fabinho, which is crucial for a midfielder who wants to put his teammates on the attack.
Similar to this, there might be opportunity for advancement to match, if not surpass, Fabinho’s pass success percentage of 88.3%. However, Palhinha’s 82.5% provides a solid basis upon which to grow.
Last but not least, Palhinha scored three Premier League goals in 2022–23 whereas Fabinho, sadly, failed to score even one goal.
Got it yet? He may check a lot of boxes, but there is a catch in the end.
Would Liverpool invest in a player whose replacement might be required a few years down the road at the age of 28, one year younger than Fabinho at what increasingly appears to be the moment of departure?
The Reds are ultimately in a bind because no ideal prospect seems to be available in the ideal age range right now.
This might be a deal worth attempting to complete if Palhinha could be lured out of the capital for a reasonably low-risk fee (West Ham United is reportedly willing to pay £40m for his services after selling Declan Rice to Arsenal) and then paired alongside a longer-term replacement and understudy, like Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
