This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Arsenal boss Unai Emery has revealed that he tried to sign Fabinho when he joined the club before Liverpool secured his signature, per The Independent.
What’s the word?
The Brazilian midfielder completed a £43.7m move to Anfield from AS Monaco in 2018.
Emery, though, says that he had tracked Fabinho throughout his time at PSG and hoped to acquire him for the Gunners.
He said: “We spent money with (Nicolas) Pepe, but Pepe needs time to adapt to the Premier League.
“For example, in France I loved a lot Fabinho. He was in Monaco and I wanted to sign him for Paris St Germain.
“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 need patience, but Pepe is improving. On Monday, the key to win was with him. If he scores the first goal, it’s different.
“But it’s one process and I believe in him and I know we need time and patience. The supporters have patience, some more than others.”
Wenger virus
These kind of claims will sound painfully familiar to Arsenal fans – it’s a classic Arsene Wenger move.
The Frenchman routinely explained how he had failed to sign the world’s best players.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all apparently slipped through the Frenchman’s net and now Emery has confirmed that he missed out on a potentially game-changing signing.
As it is, the Gunners have Granit Xhaka as their go-to defensive midfielder and their captain, supplemented by Lucas Torreira.
Fabinho, by comparison, helped the Reds win the Champions League last season, appearing in all but two games in their run – both were against Red Star Belgrade.
This season, he has been a key cog in a team that has remained unbeaten thus far in the Premier League.
Arsenal fans will wish they’d signed him ahead of the Reds; they also might wish Emery had kept his mouth shut.
