According to Sky Sports, Fabinho recently signed for Liverpool from AS Monaco for a fee of £43.7million. The Brazilian International had a good season with the Ligue 1 side as they finished second behind rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
Given the fact that his transfer fee is pretty steep, there has been some talk about whether or not he is worth the fat price tag. Personally, I don’t believe he is overrated but at the same time, Fabinho isn’t exactly underrated either.
In this article, we will look at some stats and figures of Fabinho’s and compare them to players in the Premier League who play in the same position and have a similar price tag. These stats are taken from last season’s performance only.
Fabinho vs Fernandinho
Both players play in a similar position and they also play for the same national team. Fernandinho plays for Manchester City and he played an integral role in helping the Citizens break multiple records on their road to winning the Premier League with a 100 points.
Fernandinho scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists as he sat deep in midfield and orchestrated the games. He chipped in with 1.9 tackles, 2 clearances and 1.5 interceptions per game on an average. Considering he is a defensive midfielder, these stats are quite impressive.
On the other hand, Fabinho scored 7 goals and provided 3 assists while winning an average of 2.9 aerial duels per game. Not bad, as he seems on par with the veteran in this department. Defensively, Fabinho is much better with 3.4 tackles, 1.7 dribbles and 1.6 clearances per game on an average. But, we have to keep in mind that, City don’t spend much time in defending.
Even though Fernandinho is much older, he still seems to be playing at his prime for City. So for now, let’s say that Fabinho isn’t overrated.
Fabinho vs Bakayoko
Any Chelsea fan out there would know that Bakayoko was a constant liability for the Blues throughout the season. In fact, we don’t need stats to tell us that Fabinho is much better than Bakayoko. But just to bring it into perspective, Bakayoko has an average of 2.2 tackles a game, along with 1.3 interceptions and 1.1 clearances.
He also contributed with merely 2 goals and 2 assists in the Premier League. Nevertheless, Bakayoko’s stats and his utterly terrible positional play show that Fabinho is, in fact, much better. Bakayoko is the epitome of being overrated and overpriced. Fabinho is, thankfully, not in the same boat.
Fabinho vs Xhaka
Arsenal fans weren’t too pleased with Xhaka’s performances last season, largely because he lost possession many times which often translated into goals for the opponents. Similar to Bakayoko, his discipline is poor but surprisingly, his stats are much better than those of Bakayoko’s.
Xhaka scored only one goal but provided 7 assists and averaged 2 tackles per game. His pass success percentage of 87.5% is also pretty high. However, Fabinho is again an overall better player with a similar pass success percentage of 85%. Hence, the Brazilian again comes out the winner.
Fabinho vs Matic
Matic has probably been one of the league’s best defensive midfielders for the last three years. The Serbian has had a pretty decent season with the Red Devils, scoring 2 goals and providing an assist. Defensively, he’s almost on par with Fabinho, with an average of 2 tackles, 1.8 interceptions 1.4 clearances per game. These numbers show that Fabinho is very comparable to Matic in terms of raw numbers.
It might seem unfair to compare the stats of a player who played in a different league with the stats of a player who is well settled in the English league. But if he can keep up similar figures in the Premier League and help Liverpool give the Manchester clubs a run for their money, then by no means is he overrated.
Only time will tell us if he’s underrated but his accolades and numbers have proven to show that he has the potential to be one of the best defensive midfielders of the English top-flight.
