Fabinho’s phone filled with messages of congratulations within moments of his £43.7m move to Liverpool being announced. One was from his fellow Brazilian, Roberto Firmino, offering his new teammate advice about the club and where to live in the city. Another was from Kylian Mbappé, wishing his former Monaco colleague well in the Premier League. The addition to Liverpool’s midfield intends to invite the World Cup-winning star to join him.

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“Kylian has already said he will remain at PSG for the next season but I will try slowly to convince him to come to Liverpool,” says the defensive midfielder, more in hope than expectation at this juncture. “Kylian sent me a message congratulating me on going to Liverpool. I have not had the chance to congratulate him yet on what he did winning the World Cup but what France did was fantastic. What Mbappé did in two years of professional football is amazing. He is a phenomenon and needs to be congratulated. As soon as I have the chance I will.”

The double training sessions Jürgen Klopp has put on at Melwood this week, and Mbappé’s hectic schedule since becoming the first teenager since Pelé to score in a World Cup final, account for the lack of interaction between the close friends. Together they won the 2017 French title and reached the Champions League semi-finals before a fine Monaco team broke up in haste. Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, Tiémoué Bakayoko and Benjamin Mendy were among those who departed. All have won silverware with new clubs and Fabinho aims to follow suit.

“We have a very good team and I believe we will be able to fight for the title,” insists the 24-year-old from just outside São Paulo. “I have just started with my team mates but I can see we have excellent players, an excellent manager and a very good group. I followed Liverpool last season because the way they played was very exciting – their quick transitions, the counterattacking, the way they played from the defence to the opposition net, it was fantastic to watch. We have to carry on that way this season so it will be very important for us to follow that through.

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“I understand Manchester City are the champions and produced excellent football last season, but we will do our best to get the title from them and make everyone here happy. I have spoken quite often to Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy since I arrived, mainly Bernardo. I told him that although we are friends I will be harsh on him when we play against each other! I am pleased they are playing in England and we will be living close by. Off the pitch we are very good friends but on the pitch is a different story. I have never had the chance to play against a team which had a good friend playing for them before.”

Liverpool were still coming to terms with defeat in the Champions League final when Fabinho’s under‑the-radar signing was announced in May. “I think everything started to happen about a month before the end of the season,” he admits. “It all moved very fast. I tried to focus on the end of the season with Monaco and finishing second in the French league but when you know a club of Liverpool’s stature is interested in you it obviously touches you.”

The acquisition of Fabinho and Naby Keïta intensifies competition in the heart of Liverpool’s midfield and, with Jordan Henderson expected to miss the Premier League opener against West Ham United because of his late return to pre‑season training, the Brazilian has an early opportunity to press his claims. Both the player and Klopp, however, are preaching caution.

“I have only just started playing with a new team and I have to get used to my new teammates,”he says. “I’ve noticed already it’s a different way of playing compared to what I was used to.”

Klopp elaborates: “We have seen it a little bit with Fabinho that he needs to settle. He’s a little bit too deep between the centre-halves at the moment. We do it differently to Monaco. You can push him into position but because it’s natural for him moments later he’s again deep. That shows he needs time to adapt to different styles.”

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Fabinho joined Real Madrid’s B team only a month into his first season with Rio Ave, leaving both there and Fluminense, one of Brazil’s biggest clubs, without making a senior appearance, and had one first‑team game under José Mourinho before leaving for Monaco.

“It was a very good experience for me,” he says of Real Madrid. “At the end of the season I was told that for me to stay I would remain in the B team. The opportunity came for me to move to Monaco so I took that chance and I am very happy with the way things developed.

“At Real Madrid I had the good luck to train with fantastic football players like Cristiano Ronaldo, [Mesut] Özil and [Luka] Modric. That was a fantastic experience because it was my first international experience as a football player and it taught me a lot. But now, coming to one of the top clubs in Europe like Liverpool, I will carry on learning, do my very best for this football club and hopefully show what I am worth.”