Manchester United could be closing in on their second signing of the summer as reports in Italian outlet Corriere Dello Sport claim that the Red Devils are on the verge of agreeing to a fee for versatile AS Monaco midfielder Fabinho.
The report says that the 20-time league winners have reached an agreement over a €35 million fee with €5 million in add-ons and bonuses for the Brazilian’s services with the French champions.
The 23-year old Fabinho was one of Monaco’s top performers this past season, as they went on to clinch the French Ligue 1 crown and also made it as far as the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. While it was the flair players – Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva etc., that garnered most of the attention for the Principality outfit’s success, Fabinho’s impact on the team’s fortunes cannot be understated.
The Brazilian international made a total of 37 league appearances for Monaco last time around and notched up a highly impressive 9 goals and 3 assists. He also managed 3 strikes and 3 assists from 13 Champions League games (qualification stages included). What makes the reading more impressive is the fact that most of Fabinho’s appearances came in the defensive midfield position.
The 23-year old is an extremely versatile operator, considering that he played most of the 2015-16 season as a right full-back, but has made a seamless transition to the midfield role in the previous term. Fabinho can also play as a left-back equally comfortably as well, highlighting the value that he will be adding to the team.
Extremely good on the ball, Fabinho possesses a brilliant range of distribution, that allows him to sit deep and ping the ball to his advanced teammates with stunning accuracy. Last season, he played a whopping 2417 passes at an excellent accuracy of 84.6%. His ability to play those piercing through balls to set his teammates on course for the goal is something that has been very pronounced in his game.
And the fact that he is always available to receive the ball and is able to hold on to it in the tightest of the situations make him the ideal player to control the flow of the game from the middle of the park. And when one is able to combine all these abilities with great concentration and solid defensive nous, what you get is an effective defensive midfielder. 146 successful tackles from a total of 222 attempted over the course of the season is a good indicator of the tenacity and the steel that Fabinho will bring to the midfield.
These are exactly the attributes that Manchester United have been lacking in their midfield. While Ander Herrera has stepped up brilliantly over the past year or so under Jose Mourinho, he is more of a box-to-box operator than someone who can sit back and screen the defences. Michael Carrick may have extended his contract by another year, but he cannot be playing week in week out on a consistent basis and signing a replacement for the veteran is a must for the Red Devils, if they are to be strong enough to challenge for the Premier League title.
And Fabinho is the answer that Mourinho and United are looking for. He has the all-round abilities to come in and fill in the giant boots of Carrick. With someone like him to take care of the defensive side of things, it will also help United’s world record transfer Paul Pogba to finally unleash his brilliance in the middle of the park. And throw in the fact that the Brazilian can score goals on a consistent basis as well, United may well strike gold by signing him and he could easily turn out to be their best transfer of the summer.