Fabinho: Real Madrid's ugly duckling has become a swan at Liverpool

Fabio Henrique Tavares, better known simply as Fabinho, arrived at Real Madrid in 2012 on loan from Rio Ave to fill the void left at Castilla by the departure of Dani Carvajal to Bayer Leverkusen.

The man who recommended his signing to Real Madrid was super-agent Jorge Mendes, with Fabinho explaining that he didn't expect to make such a big move so soon into his career.

"We arrived in Portugal, but I stayed around at Rio Ave for just two weeks, maybe three at the most," Fabinho told FourFourTwo.

"I had a barbecue with other Brazilians and then my agent called to say that Real Madrid Castilla [Real Madrid's reserve team] needed a right-back and wanted to know if I was interested.

"Then one night, Lucio [Araujo, brother of former Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder Deco] came and told me to pack my things because Jorge Mendes was on his way by car in the early hours of the morning.

"I was like, 'Is something wrong?' Nobody said a word, but then at some point in the car, Mendes said we were travelling to Madrid and that I would sign for them.

"I called my mum in Brazil to tell her about that and she started to cry.

"No one had expected something this huge to happen in such a short time. It was a very special moment for me."

He met Mourinho in pyjamas

Fabinho also recalled his first meeting with then-Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho after travelling from Portugal to the Spanish capital.

"We headed to the hotel in Madrid and, while I was still sleeping, I woke up to somebody knocking on the door," added Fabinho.

"I looked through the peephole and couldn't believe it. It was Mendes and Jose Mourinho.

"I was still wearing my pyjamas, not at all prepared to meet him. I didn't even know what to say.

"He wanted to welcome me. I was still a bit shy and never thought I would meet him like that!"

A year in Valdebebas

Fabinho's time at Real Madrid ended up being brief, however. He made 30 appearances for Castilla in LaLiga SmartBank, scoring two goals and registering one assist, before heading to Monaco.

Previously he had become the 18th youth-team player to debut at Real Madrid under Mourinho, who gave him the nod at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in a 6-2 win over Malaga on May 8, 2013, when Fabinho was 19 years, six months and 15 days old.

Change of position at Monaco

Fabinho played a key role in Monaco's efforts to snatch Ligue 1 from Paris Saint-Germain in 2016/17. However, he didn't shine at right-back as his then-coach Leonardo Jardim had shifted him to a holding midfielder, with the Brazilian netting 12 goals and recording six assists.

"Within my training in Brazil I also played in the position of midfielder and winger," Fabinho told MARCA in 2019.

"But it was at Monaco when Jardim changed my position definitively. I always worked to end up playing in the middle third."

Winning everything at Liverpool

In 2018, Fabinho parted ways with Monaco to join Liverpool for a fee of 45 million euros, just after the Reds had lost 3-1 to Los Blancos in the Champions League final in Kyiv.

Along with Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho helped form the Liverpool backbone that led the team to Premier League glory in 2019/20. They've also won the Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and European Super Cup trophies.

Now, Fabinho will face Real Madrid as one of the finest midfielders in European football. He will come up against his compatriot Casemiro, with whom he coincided in 11 games at Castilla and with whom he is competing for a spot in the Selecao's starting line-up.

Jurgen Klopp is crossing his fingers that Fabinho will be fully fit for the final in Paris, with the Brazilian midfielder being the player who scored the goal that inspired Liverpool to their 3-2 comeback win against Villarreal in the semi-finals.