REVEALED: Liverpool's shortlist to replace Fabinho

Tom Hancock

• 15 Jul 2023 14:51 BST
• 3 min read

Romeo Lavia and Kalvin Phillips are among the names being considered by Liverpool as potential replacements for Fabinho, who looks set to move to Saudi Arabia.

Fabinho has not travelled with the Reds squad to their training camp in Germany, after Al-Ittihad made a £40m (€46.5m) bid for the 29-year-old Brazilian midfielder.

And should he leave Anfield, it rather goes without saying that Jurgen Klopp’s midfield rebuild – which has so far seen the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai – is bound to increase in scale.

MORE: Klopp REVEALS Liverpool's summer transfer plans

According to The Athletic, Fabinho is keen on a switch to Al-Ittihad – who last season claimed their first Saudi Pro League title in 14 years, beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr to the crown.

And the report adds that the Reds already have a number of possible defensive midfield successors in mind.

Southampton’s Romeo Lavia continues to be linked with Liverpool, as does Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch; Kalvin Phillips could also be an option, having barely featured since joining Manchester City this time last year, along with Morrocan World Cup semi-finalist Sofyan Amrabat of Fiorentina.

MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers | All the Done Deals

Goodbye to a modern Reds great?

Fabinho joined Liverpool from Monaco in 2018 and has gone on to make 219 appearances for the club, proving pivotal (quite literally) to their 2018/19 Champions League triumph and 2019/20 Premier League title success.

The one-time Fluminense youngster still has three years left to run on his contract at Anfield, but he does appear to be heading for the exit door as thing stand.

Jordan Henderson has also been the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia this week, with Al-Ettifaq – who are now managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard – making an approach for the current Reds skipper.