Unai Emery has explained how he tried to sign Fabinho from AS Monaco while in charge of PSG and then again when he arrived at Arsenal.
The Spaniard took the helm at the Emirates on May 23 2018, but six days later, Fabinho had finalised his transfer to Liverpool!
At first, the Brazilian struggled to adapt to English football, but Jurgen Klopp remained patient and gradually built up his minutes.
Now, he’s recognised as arguably the best holding midfielder on the planet.
Emery used this example as a reason for Gunners to not get on underperforming Nicolas Pepe’s back.
“We spent money with Pepe and he needs time to adapt to the Premier League,” Emery told the Standard.
“For example, in France I loved Fabinho a lot. He was in Monaco and I wanted to sign for PSG. When I arrived here, also his name was on the table to achieve to sign him, but he signed for Liverpool.
“The first six months he didn’t play, it was adaptation. But now he is amazing and I want the same with [Dani] Ceballos, with Pepe.”
We’re not sure if Pepe will come good, but in all honesty, it’s not really our concern.
It’s very good though that PSG didn’t snap up Fabinho when they had the chance, as they usually have a monopoly on good players in Ligue One.
Now as we approach 2020, Fabinho is an automatic starter for the Reds and will remain so for the rest of the campaign barring injury.
While the likes of Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum fight for two positions, Fabinho’s is assured.