Liverpool star's Saudi move under THREAT because of his DOGS

Tom Weber

• 24 Jul 2023 12:31 BST
• 3 min read

Fabinho's move to Al-Ittihad is stalling because of his dogs, according to reports.

The Liverpool star appears all but set to join the reigning Saudi Pro League champions, but the deal has still not been officially completed yet because of Saudi Arabia's animal laws. Fabinho owns a pair of French bulldogs and this is proving to be a problem.

As relayed by Relevo, Saudi law states that this breed is considered aggressive and dangerous and is thus prohibited from entering the country "under any circumstances." Fabinho isn't the only one affected. The outlet claims that Saudi sources have informed them of another, unnamed player whose move is also being delayed due to his pets.

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This law has cast doubt on the ability of Saudi clubs to sign certain players, but in the case of Fabinho, a deal is expected to go through eventually, with the player set to either receive special permission to bring his dogs along or, in case he won't be granted an exception, to keep them in neighbouring Bahrain - some 1400 kilometres away from Jeddah, where Al-Ittihad are based.

Fabinho's Saudi move

The Brazilian has been granted permission from Liverpool to pursue a move to the Pro League champions. With him and captain Jordan Henderson departing for the Gulf country, the Reds' midfield will look unrecognisable next term.

But it's not hard to see why Jurgen Klopp and company would allow Fabinho to move: Liverpool are set to earn as much as £40 million (€46m) from the 29-year-old's transfer, a fee that would make bringing in a replacement much easier given that Liverpool have already spent more than €100m on midfield signings.

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Fabinho will join Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, ex-Celtic star Jota, former Premier League defender Ahmet Hegazy and coach Nuno Espirito Santo at Al-Ittihad.