If a report from the Guardian is believed to be true, Liverpool have won the race for Fabio Carvalho ahead of a summer swoop. A deal on the winter deadline failed to materialize, but the Reds did not give up the chase after scouting him extensively for more than a year.
Liverpool have emerged as one of the prime contenders for the prestigious Premier League silverware. They are also going strong in the Champions League. You can try your luck via Bethard 2022 by counting on the Merseysiders.
Carvalho, 19, left Benfica at a very young age. His family moved to London and the youngster joined Balham to pursue his football career in England. There he did enough to impress the Fulham scouts and the Cottagers roped him in for their academy ranks seven years ago. He eventually made his senior debut back in September 2020 in a Cup tie and went on to make four Premier League appearances before enduring relegation.
Meanwhile, the teenager grabbed a key status this season as an attacking midfielder. He has scored and assisted 7 times each in 29 Championship appearances and Fulham, the runaway league leaders, are on course to secure an immediate promotion to the top-tier of English football.
However, the Portugal U21 international (who also represented England previously at various youth levels) is keen on making the next career move and a club of Liverpool’s stature have now offered him the exit route.
Carvalho, a free agent this summer, decided not to extend his stay at Craven Cottage beyond the ongoing term. Liverpool splashed a development fee of £5m plus add-ons to secure his services and the Londoners, too, have accepted the figure that would see the Portuguese joining the Reds on a five-year deal.
The reigning League Cup champions decided not to bring in another ‘number 10’ since Philippe Coutinho’s controversial Barcelona transfer. Predominantly a midfield attacker, Carvalho is also capable of operating from the wide. The flexibility of his game should help him attune to the demands of Klopp’s ‘heavy metal’ football.
The gaffer is now developing Harvey Elliott who also left Fulham for Liverpool three years back and it remains to be seen how quickly their latest signing settles in new surroundings amid growing competition across the pitch. Klopp is building a team capable of carrying the legacy forward for years to come and the upcoming pre-season would be crucial for their rising sensations who are determined to prove their worth.
