AS Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has explained the decision to sell Fabinho.

The Brazil midfielder left ASM yesterday for Liverpool in a deal worth a fee rising to €50m.

Vasilyev reasoned: "First of all, I want to salute a player who, despite his young age, has established himself as an example on and off the pitch thanks to exceptional technical and human qualities.

"He leaves for one of the most prominent clubs in the world five years after having arrived on tiptoe in Monaco. I am proud of his progress which confirms, once again, all the know-how of AS Monaco in the emergence of young talents in the world of football."