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Former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has outlined how his exit came about two years after he moved from Merseyside to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al Ittihad for a fee of around $54 million (£40 million).
Having struggled in his final season with the club, Fabinho was the subject of an offer that Liverpool felt it couldn't turn down. And amid a midfield rebuild involving the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai that has since borne fruit, it was the right decision for Liverpool.
For Fabinho, though, he was still hoping to stick around at the time. "I didn’t want to leave the club and go to any other club in Europe," the 31-year-old Brazilian told The Guardian.
"I thought it was the best place in the world to play, to keep developing as a player. I wanted my legacy and my history at the club to grow even more, but our last season was very gruelling, tiring.
"We didn’t do well and failed to qualify for the Champions League. I lost my position as a starter for a few games, but that happens.
"I came back for the following season, even though the previous one hadn’t been good, with a very good mentality and wanting to fight for the Premier League title again.
"But before the season started, Al Ittihad made an offer for me and the Liverpool directors said it was very good for the club and for me."
Selling Fabinho partially funded a complete revamp of the Liverpool midfield department. Club captain Jordan Henderson also moved to Saudi Arabia that summer, though he only lasted six months before he moved to Ajax.
"I was afraid and decided to wait to see what [the coaching staff] would say," Fabinho explained. "I thought I was an important player and that they would refuse any offer, but I realized that the club was open to selling me.
"He called me and asked me what I wanted. I said that I’d heard the offer and liked it, but that I wanted to hear from him what he thought. He said that if there are any players who want to leave, he won’t hold them back.
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"It was a speech that kind of opened the door for me to leave. That conversation with the coach could have kept me at the club, but he left it open and I didn’t like it very much.
"I always like to do a prayer before I make my decisions. Liverpool is a club I love, but the things that happened at the time steered my life towards Saudi Arabia. I left in peace and happy with my decision."
Liverpool.com says: The Reds left themselves with so much to do in the summer of 2023. They needed to redo the whole midfield and did, in fairness, manage to pull that off with some really smart signings.
This summer, there has been a similar level of overhaul in some areas of the pitch, with more transfers still to be done. The hope is that there will be a similarly transformational and long-term impact.
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