After finally starting to get involved in the Liverpool first-team, summer signing Fabinho has admitted that he has struggled to adapt to life at his new club.
The Brazilian swapped Monaco for Merseyside in a £40 million move this summer and was expected to form an integral part of the Reds midfield alongside fellow new arrival, Naby Keita.
However, with a quarter of the season already behind us, Fabinho only made his first Premier League start for the club in this weekend’s 4-1 hammering of strugglers Cardiff City. That was just his second start for the club, having started the Champions League game against Red Star Belgrade last week, leaving the 25-year-old to admit that ‘it hasn’t been easy’ to settle into life at Liverpool.
“I’m very happy to play my second match in a row as first-choice, played the full match. It is very good for me,” Fabinho told ESPN.
“This moment to adapt, it hasn’t been easy — many times you are out, there were many times I wasn’t [picked].
“But I tried to learn from all this, tried to give my best during practice. The coaches were very nice to me, they didn’t let me get down. I worked to be well prepared.
“[I] got the opportunity last Wednesday, I believe I [had] a good match, and [against Cardiff] I believe I helped the team at the midfield.
“The moment is good, being called has helped too. So I’m very happy, I hope I can keep it. I know the rate here is very high, you have to always try to keep a good performance, and in our team we have a lot of options in the midfield.
“Of course it’s not possible to be always called, but whenever the coach needs me I want to be ready for it.”