Fabinho's Contract Standoff Puts Al-Ittihad in a Tough Spot
Al-Ittihad know exactly what Fabinho means to them. A midfield anchor, a dressing-room reference point, a pillar of the 2024-2025 double. And yet, as the new season creeps closer, they are locked in a familiar and dangerous game: trying to keep a star on reduced terms and hoping history does not repeat itself.
The 32-year-old Brazilian arrived in Jeddah in the summer of 2023 from Liverpool for 46.7 million euros, a statement signing at the time. His contract, though, ran its course and expired at the end of last season. Now the club that built its midfield around him is fighting to avoid losing him for nothing.
A renewal the club want – but not at any price
Sports media figure Mohammed Al-Bukairy has confirmed that Al-Ittihad’s company is pushing to extend Fabinho’s deal by one year, taking it through to June 2027. On paper, that sounds like continuity. In reality, the numbers have sparked a storm.
The club’s management have put forward an offer that falls short of what Fabinho earned over the past three seasons, both in salary and benefits. For a player who has been central to their recent success, that cut landed badly. According to Al-Bukairy, Fabinho and his agent made their displeasure clear.
Talks have not collapsed. Far from it. Negotiations remain open, with both sides chasing a figure that sits close to his previous wage of 25 million euros a year. That number has become the reference point, the line in the sand. Al-Ittihad are trying to edge below it. Fabinho is resisting.
Echoes of Benzema
Inside the club, the tension around this negotiation is sharpened by a very recent memory: Karim Benzema.
The French striker, dubbed “the Government” by fans, walked away from Al-Ittihad on a free transfer in the 2026 winter window after a contract saga that turned sour. Back then, the club also wanted to renew, but on reduced financial terms. Benzema did not take it lightly.
He shut the door on talks, demanded his contract be terminated and left for Al-Hilal, signing a deal that runs until June 2027. Al-Hilal, for their part, now want to move him on, having decided he no longer fits their plans on a technical level. Efforts to find a buyer, though, have stalled.
The Benzema episode still stings at Al-Ittihad. Losing a marquee name for free, to a direct rival, after a failed attempt to drive down his salary, is exactly the kind of scenario they do not want to relive with Fabinho. Yet the pattern feels uncomfortably familiar.
Interest from Brazil as Fabinho weighs his options
While Al-Ittihad haggle over millions, the outside world is watching. Several Brazilian newspapers report that Cruzeiro and Palmeiras are keen on the midfielder this summer. Both see an opportunity: a proven international, out of contract, with a winning pedigree.
Fabinho’s camp, though, has its own priorities. The player is said to be giving preference to offers from European and Saudi clubs. That stance keeps Al-Ittihad firmly in the picture, but it also opens the door to rivals in the same league and to teams on the continent who can match, or at least approach, his financial expectations.
The longer the stalemate drags on, the more tempting those alternatives become.
A cornerstone of a title-winning side
On the pitch, Fabinho’s importance is not up for debate. Since arriving in the summer of 2023, he has played 111 matches for the Tigers across all competitions, scoring seven goals and providing nine assists. Those numbers tell only part of the story.
He has been the shield in front of the defence, the organiser in transition, the calm presence when games threatened to run away from Al-Ittihad. His fingerprints were all over the club’s 2024-2025 double, as they lifted both the Saudi Roshn League and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.
You do not replace that kind of influence easily. Certainly not on a discount.
A test of strategy and pride
Al-Ittihad now stand at a crossroads. Push their financial limits to keep a 32-year-old midfielder who has delivered trophies, or hold the line on a new wage structure and risk losing another star for nothing.
Fabinho, for his part, must decide whether to accept a reduced package in a league where he has already conquered the biggest prizes, or chase a final major contract elsewhere, with Brazil and Europe watching closely.
The negotiations continue, the clock keeps ticking, and the memory of Benzema’s exit looms large.
Will Al-Ittihad bend to keep their midfield general, or watch another cornerstone walk out the door and strengthen someone else’s project?
