If reports from The Express is to be believed, Fabinho’s move away from Liverpool to Saudi Pro League could be under threat due to the dogs he owns. While Fabinho is keen on making the move to the cash rich Saudi League, there is a roadblock on moving his dogs to the Asian country.
Currently, Fabinho is seeking clarification whether his two dogs will be allowed to move to Saudi Arabia ahead of his £40m move to Al-Itiihad.
Fabinho has two French bulldogs, though it’s really unclear whether they would be permitted to make the move as well at this time.
According to Government guidelines of Saudi, dogs are only allowed into the country if they are to be used for hunting, work as a guard dog or help as ‘seeing-eye dogs’ for people with blindness.
Now, the whole thing will come down to interpretation as Fabinho’s team needs to convince the Saudi authority that his two French bulldogs will be helpful in being guard dogs. Realistically that’s the only way it works by our calculation.
According to the reports, until the Liverpool midfielder gets a definitive answer on the status of whether his two dogs will be allowed into the country, the move to Al-Ittihad is on hold as he will not sign a new contract with them.
Al-Ittihad have already made a number of key signings with Kante and Benzema already a part of the Saudi side. Reportedly, Fabinho is a key target for Nuno Espirito Santos so no doubt he is hoping that the move goes of without a hitch.
Realistically, given the stakes, I fully expect this to be resolved. And that too sooner rather than later.
So while this may be a fun story to read about, the smart money would be on Fabinho playing for Al-Ittihad at the start of the next season.
