Ex-Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has named Fabinho in his all-time starting-eleven of players he shared the pitch with during his professional career.
The 41-year-old announced his retirement from football in September 2019 having started out as a professional back in 1998 for CSKA Sofia in his native country, Bulgaria.
Berbatov moved to England in 2006 to represent Tottenham Hotspur and enjoyed two full seasons with the Lilywhites before agreeing a transfer to United in 2008. During his four years with the Red Devils, the forward won two Premier League titles, the League Cup and Club World Cup while playing alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
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Further spells at Fulham, Monaco, PAOK and Kerala Blasters followed before Berbatov called time on his career, and he has now taken the opportunity to single out the most talented stars he featured alongside. Liverpool midfielder Fabinho is among those to have made the cut, having been selected alongside Paul Scholes.
Explaining his thought process behind picking one of his former Monaco team-mates, he told Optus Sport: “I don’t want to be boring, I want to say something that will surprise people – so I’ve gone with Fabinho.
“We were in Monaco together, he was a young boy back then. I came from the Premier League but straight away I could see his talent. He was very good in training, taking responsibility in the games, he could play at right-back and in the middle of the park.
“In training sessions I was used to physical contact, most of the time I was smashing him here and there, with elbows and shoulders so he could go on the ground. He was like ‘Berba, come on!’ and I’m like ‘I’m preparing you for the Premier League’. Funnily enough, years later he’s in the Premier League and one of the best players in the Liverpool team.”
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