Fabio and his twin brother Rafael began their careers with Fluminense in their native Brazil before being signed by English club Manchester United in February 2007.

Unlike his brother, Fabio struggled to hold down a place in the Manchester United first team, and after a loan spell with Queens Park Rangers in 2012–13, he made a permanent move to Cardiff City in January 2014.

[5] Fabio began his football career as a defensive midfielder with his local club, Boa Esperança, but he was converted to left back when he joined Fluminense.

[6] With Fluminense, Fabio took part in the 2005 Nike Premier Cup in Hong Kong, where he was spotted by Manchester United scout Les Kershaw, who remarked that the twins reminded him of "two little whippets".

Kershaw then telephoned Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and recommended that the club sign the Da Silva twins.

[13] Fabio made his Premier League debut on 16 August, playing at right-back at home to Birmingham City on the opening day of the 2009–10 season.

[14] He made his second start of the season at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the League Cup, but was red-carded just short of the half-hour mark for a professional foul on Michael Kightly.

[17] Manchester United appealed and The Football Association ("FA") agreed it was a case of mistaken identity, transferring the card to Rafael.

[23] His debut came at home to Swansea City on 18 August, and finished as a 5–0 defeat, during which he received a yellow card for a foul on Nathan Dyer.

Fabio was sent on as a 76th-minute substitute for the injured Rio Ferdinand, but three-and-a-half minutes later received a straight red card for a reckless lunge on José Cañas with the scores level at 1–1.

The ten men of United subsequently conceded a 90th-minute goal and were knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round stage for only the second time in 28 years.

In September 2011, after a spell of good form with Manchester United, Fabio was rewarded with a place in the Brazil senior squad for the matches against Costa Rica and Mexico on 7 and 11 October 2011 respectively.

Along with his brother Rafael, Fabio has been praised for his energetic style, and has been described as an "excellent footballer" by his former manager at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson.