Fans of Liverpool would not have anticipated that Fabinho would leave the club this summer, but once Saudi Arabia’s interest became evident, it appeared to be a very quick process for him to decide that his career was best spent elsewhere.
‘It was not Klopp’s aim to sell him, but he has regularly indicated he will remove individuals who are no longer dedicated,’ according to Chris Bascombe for The Telegraph.
Few would disagree with our manager’s choice to not keep any players at the team who no longer want to play for them, but it’s intriguing to hear that he took such a strong stance on this issue.
The one significant discussion point that will result from this is why Jordan Henderson, who is a member of the travelling team to Germany for the preseason camp, hasn’t received the same assessment.
The England international is presently expected to remain at the club, despite the fact that we appear to have also been happy to sell our captain since Al-Ettifaq does not appear to be able to pay the £20 million that we have used as a reference point for the move.
We are in a more difficult position when a player does want to leave but the offer they received isn’t high enough.
However, in the Brazilian’s case, he was already looking elsewhere, and Al-Ittihad could afford the transfer, so we didn’t see the need to battle to keep him.
Jurgen Klopp has a commendable approach, and it will demonstrate to the other players in the locker room how easily they may be replaced.
