Fabinho Leaves Out Sadio Mane As He Names Seven Former Liverpool Team-Mates In His Best XI
Fabinho has named seven of his former Liverpool team-mates in his best XI, however, he left out the likes of Sadio Mane and a number of other high-profile names.
The 31-year-old midfielder moved to Anfield from AS Monaco in the summer of 2018. He played a key role in helping the Reds win several titles including the Premier League and Champions League during his five years at the club.
Fabinho made 219 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions before he left the club to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad on a three-year deal in July 2023.
In his recent interview with One Football, he was asked to choose his best XI of former team-mates and the Brazilian included the likes of Alisson Becker, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino.
Surprisingly there was no space for Mane, Joel Matip, and Gini Wijnaldum while players like Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante were also left out.
Alisson starts in goal with a back four of Fluminense's Thiago Silva, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, and Andy Robertson.
In midfield, he selected Ajax midfielder Jordan Henderson, himself, and Manchester City star Bernardo Silva, having played with the Portuguese at AS Monaco.
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Al Hilal's Neymar lead the attack.
Fabinho dream XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Thiago Silva, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Bernardo Silva; Salah, Firmino, Neymar.
Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri won the men's Ballon d'Or for the first time back in October, claiming the award ahead of Real Madrid and Brazil winger Vinicius Junior.
According to Fabinho, he believes Vinicius Junior deserves the award after a remarkable season at Madrid last term where they won both the La Liga and Champions League.
“I was (upset). In my opinion, Vini deserve to win this Ballon d’Or,” he said. “I also congratulated Rodri, who had a good season, won the prize, won the Euro.
“But personally I think Vini deserved it. He performed better in the season, but there’s not much we can do.”
Meanwhile, Fabinho is still dreaming of making a return to the Brazil national team in future.
“Yes, I still dream of returning to the Brazil national team,” he admitted. “I didn’t say that (Dorival Jr.) doesn’t look at the Saudi Pro League.
“I said he looks less, but I hope he still looks at the Saudi Pro League. There are a lot of good Brazilian players here. Malcolm, what he’s doing here, I think deserves to go to the Selecao.
“In my case, I’m playing well too. I hope they're looking at us… I hope that the Selecao will continue to improve with players from the Saudi Pro League.”
Fabinho has made 29 appearances for Brazil, however, he is yet to represent his country since the 2022 World Cup and has not been handed a call-up since leaving Liverpool.
LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli