Fabinho

Fábio Henrique Tavares (born 23 October 1993), known as Fabinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad and the Brazil national team.

A versatile player, Fabinho can also be deployed as a right-back or centre-back.

Praised for his tackling, vision and reading of the game, Fabinho is considered to be one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation.

Fabinho began his career at Fluminense and subsequently transferred to Rio Ave in 2012.

He spent his entire time in Portugal out on loan, first at Real Madrid Castilla, and made one substitute appearance for the first team.

He was called into a first team matchday squad for the only time on 20 May 2012, as he was an unused substitute in a 1–0 win over Corinthians for the season's Série A.

On 8 June 2012, Fabinho joined Portuguese Primeira Liga club Rio Ave on a six-year contract.

Upon arriving in Vila do Conde, Fabinho was greeted by his new manager, Nuno Espírito Santo.

Fabinho later stated that he had been informed of what to expect in Portugal by fellow footballer Deco, who had been with him at Fluminense.

After one month at Rio Ave, Fabinho joined Real Madrid Castilla on a season-long loan on 19 July 2012 and was welcomed in his hotel room in Madrid by José Mourinho.

He made his professional debut on 17 August, as the Spanish Segunda División season began, playing 90 minutes in the 2–1 defeat at Villarreal.

On 28 April 2013, he scored his first goal, heading an added-time equaliser for a 3–3 draw at CD Numancia.

He made his debut for Real Madrid on 8 May 2013, playing 14 minutes in place of Fábio Coentrão and assisting the sixth goal by Ángel Di María in the 6–2 La Liga victory over Málaga at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Fabinho was later praised by Jason Pettigrove of Bleacher Report as "assured and polished when called upon".

On 19 July 2013, Fabinho joined Monaco from Rio Ave on a season-long loan deal.

Fabinho chose to move to Monaco as he was confident of receiving regular playing time there and as he was sure of Monaco's status as a prominent club.

His decision was made in this way despite the fact that the coaches at Real Madrid Castilla had notified him that he would have a good chance of moving up to the first team.

Fabinho took the squad number 2 to wear on his shirt.

He made his debut on 10 August at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Monaco's opening Ligue 1 match of the 2013–14 season, playing the entire match against Bordeaux, with Monaco winning 2–0.

He scored his first goal for Monaco in the 58th minute in their 6–0 home win over Lens in the quarter-finals of the 2013–14 Coupe de France on 26 March 2014.

After completing his one-year loan at Monaco, he rejoined the club on loan for another year on 2 July 2014.

On 9 December 2014, he scored the last goal in the Group C Matchday 6 2–0 home win over Zenit St Petersburg (his first UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League goal), to enable Monaco to qualify for 2014–15 UEFA Champions League knockout phase as group winners.

Fabinho made his international debut for Brazil in 2015, and was part of their squads at the Copa América in 2015, 2016 and 2021, finishing in second place in the latter competition.

Fabinho was also selected as part of Brazil's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a tournament in which they were knocked out in the quarter-finals.

Fabinho was born in Campinas, São Paulo, to Joao Roberto Tavares and Rosangela Tavares.

Fabinho began his career at Fluminense.

On 19 May 2015, after two seasons on loan at Monaco, Monaco and Rio Ave agreed on the permanent transfer of Fabinho; he signed a contract with Monaco for the next four seasons and would be tied to the club until 30 June 2019.

On 15 March, Fabinho made the score 2–0 for Monaco in the 29th minute by driving home Benjamin Mendy's low cross to help Monaco beat Manchester City 3–1 (aggregate score 6–6) in the second-leg match at the Stade Louis II and advance to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule.

He spent five years at Monaco, playing 233 total games and scoring 31 goals, and he won Ligue 1 in the 2016–17 season.

He was recognised a major player at the Monegasque club.

Fabinho then transferred to Liverpool for a reported transfer fee of £39 million.

In his debut season at Liverpool he won the UEFA Champions League.

On 20 March 2016, Fabinho won a penalty when fouled by compatriot David Luiz, and converted it for a 2–0 win that was Paris Saint-Germain's first home defeat since May 2014.

After Monaco achieved victory in Ligue 1 in 2016–2017, several noted clubs, such as Manchester United, made attempts to sign Fabinho.

Fabinho and several other Monaco players dyed their hair in the red-and-white colours of the club as a celebration for the title they had won.

On 21 February 2017, Fabinho provided one assist each to Radamel Falcao and Kylian Mbappé in a 5–3 away defeat against Manchester City in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League round of 16 first-leg match.

Victories in the UEFA Super Cup and in the FIFA Club World Cup preceded Fabinho playing a significant role in Liverpool winning the 2019–20 Premier League.

He also won the FA Cup and EFL Cup with Liverpool in the 2021–22 season and won the FA Community Shield the following season.

Fabinho has received much credit for his role in Liverpool's resurgence over the years.

In 2023, Fabinho officially joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad.