As a £40 million transfer to Liverpool approaches, Roy Hodgson has found the ideal Fabinho replacement.

As Liverpool looks for a replacement for their departing Brazilian, Cheick Doucoure is a promising choice.

Remember that Jurgen Klopp has built his career on molding people into what could be, not what is there to begin with, as Liverpool’s midfield rebuild takes its most dramatic turn yet this summer.

After five years, Fabinho’s tenure on Merseyside appears to be coming to an end. Seven trophies later, the Brazilian can only be thanked for his service and wished well on his departure from the team after winning the club’s first Premier League and sixth Champions League titles.

It seems like a no-brainer to accept the £40 million offer put forth by Al Ittihad, which recovers most of the fee paid to AS Monaco in 2018. The Reds’ only drawback is having to decide where to spend their extra cash on shopping.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time, as there are currently no ready-made midfielders available who can enter the team and immediately replace Fabinho in his capacity as “the lighthouse” of Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Declan Rice was on the move last week, so that indicates that the ship has left port, even though the British record £105 million transfer fee paid by Arsenal suggests that he would never have been a viable option. Only Moises Caicedo is still available, and Chelsea is getting closer to signing him after having a £70 million offer turned down on Tuesday.

Sofyan Amrabat, a World Cup star for Morocco, has been mentioned, though there are doubts. Following Sofyan Amrabat, there are many of football’s brightest prospects slated to succeed players like Fabinho, who is still far from a finished product.

But you shouldn’t worry about this.
The manager of Liverpool takes great pride in his ability to take a budding player and turn them into a star, ready to win title after title. Just take a look at players like Sadio Mane, Gini Wijnaldum, and Andy Robertson, particularly since his entry into the Premier League.

The next player in line for the German’s treatment could be Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure, who is currently playing in the Premier League and was reportedly noticed by Anfield officials after his £21 million summer move to England.

In addition to making 34 Premier League appearances for a Palace team that went on to finish 11th, he also won his club’s internal Player of the Season award, which was decided by the fans.

Former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson was incredibly impressed by his midfielder’s impact when he returned to the South London club during the 2022–2023 season. The 75-year-old has also previously noted that his man can switch between playing in a midfield two or three, something Liverpool’s players tested earlier this year.

In April, he said this about the player: “He is very good: a very nice person, a very good player – a very serious player.

He is improving. He is adjusting to new challenges presented to him each week by the various Premier League teams we face during his first season in the league.

“I am incredibly happy with him. He possesses the qualities that a central midfielder in a two or a three needs to have.

“[Cheick’s] English is improving greatly, which is also helpful. He is also a very well-liked player on the team. The young man has a lot going for him. “.

The Malian is now 23 years old, entering the age group where upcoming prospects must establish their value in order to join a club in the upper echelons. Determining whether Doucoure is the right candidate to succeed Fabinho at this point in his career therefore only requires profiling him.

Using the database at Fbref.com, it is easy to understand why Palace supporters have taken to the former Lens player so quickly.

Gathering counterattacks before the opposition could pose a threat was a key component of Fabinho’s style. He completed 2.19 tackles and 1.25 blocks on average per 90 minutes last season.

In response, the Mali international outperformed both, averaging 2 points for tackles and 1 point for blocks per 90 minutes.

When Fabinho won the ball, it was his responsibility to put his teammates on the offensive, and Doucoure once more demonstrates that the Liverpool team at the very least has a player with the potential to do this.

He was in charge of 61 shot-creating actions and 21 direct take-ons against opponents, completing 83.2% of his passes throughout the entire campaign. Only in this one area did Fabinho surpass him; his pass-mastery shone through with an 88.3% success rate. The Brazilian attempted 15 takedowns and attempted 55 shots, but otherwise he was in last place.

Doucoure is difficult to look past if you’re looking for someone to come in and have a direct, positive impact on how this Reds team transitions. Granted, the departing Liverpool midfielder’s 2022–2023 may not have been the most influential of years.