Less than 48 hours after a crushing defeat in the Champions League final, Liverpool have gone some way to soften the blow.
The aftermath from Kyiv has been dominated by the Loris Karius’ narrative after the German goalkeeper’s horror show.
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But Jurgen Klopp is a proactive manager – and his first summer signing, while not reeking of glam and glitter, might well be their most important in years.
Within the space of a couple of hours reports of a move for Fabinho suddenly materialised into a completed £40m deal.
Signed, sealed and delivered.
In the lanky, athletic Brazilian Liverpool finally have a concrete defensive midfielder who can not only break up play, but dictate it too.
It means, with the imminent arrival of the ludicrously exciting Naby Keita, the Reds’ midfield is set for an almost complete overhaul this summer.
We’ve been blown away all season by the exploits of their front three, with Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane plundering 91 goals between them.
But there’s been a feeling, never more obvious than against the levels displayed by Luka Modric and Toni Kroos on Saturday, that their midfield has its limitations.
Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum have all hustled and harried as unsung heroes throughout their Champions League campaign.
But against Real Liverpool were crying out for a midfielder to put their foot on the ball and impose some authority.
In Fabinho and Keita they have found their solution before the dust from Kyiv has even settled.
And given the inevitable grief from Man United supporters for Saturday’s defeat, Liverpool fans might take a semblance of revenge from the deal.
Fabinho, after all, has been one of United’s main targets for the last two seasons and he is represented by none other than Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes.
That might put a smile back on Reds’ fans faces.
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