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Jurgen Klopp insisted that Philippe Coutinho “still loves Liverpool” when explaining the role his former midfielder played in persuading Fabinho to join the Reds.
Coutinho left Anfield for Barcelona in January 2018 in a £ 142 million deal, while Liverpool quickly set out to reinvest the transfer funds raised.
The Reds bought Virgil van Dijk from Southampton that same month, while Fabinho and Alisson arrived in the summer of 2018 from Monaco and Rome respectively.
Liverpool rejected the interest of Manchester United and Manchester City to land midfielder Fabinho, who has been a vital cog in their winning teams in the Champions League and the Premier.
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And Klopp explained why the Reds have Brazilian duo Coutinho and Roberto Firmino to thank for getting their compatriot to Merseyside.
“We just said what we had to say, what we think and what it will be like for us and things like that,” Klopp said.
“I think the best help was probably Bobby [Firmino] since they knew each other from the national team and surely what Phil said about Liverpool because he loved and still loves Liverpool, this kind of thing helped.
(Image: AFP / Getty Images)
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“I can’t tell you exactly what I told him, because it was a long time ago, but it was obviously compelling enough and so he came together.
“When I first met him, he was quite a shy boy and maybe he thought it would be better to be with a very noisy manager.”
Despite being a natural midfielder, Fabinho has excelled in central defense this season, where he has replaced the injured duo Van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
(Image: Getty Images)
How important is Fabinho for Liverpool? Give us your opinion here.
Klopp is grateful to have the versatile 27-year-old on his team, although he admits he can’t take credit for shaping him into a new position.
The Reds boss added: “I’d love to say it was just because of us and before coming here, I could never have played any of the positions that he plays, but that’s not true!
“I wouldn’t even say that Fab is a defensive-minded player, he’s more of an organizational type of player.
“He’s very strategic, I don’t know what he played in his youth in Brazil, but for Monaco and the national team he played frequently as a right back.
“He has also played in one of the six double positions, so he is able to play in the middle half, you can see it in many situations.
“His challenging skills are just outstanding defensively and in soccer he is good in small spaces, so it makes sense to play him in midfield, but he can play in the middle and we knew it.
“Thank God we have him and with him and the other guys we have someone to play in this position.”
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