Why Liverpool’s refusal to accept RB Leipzig’s €12 million offer for Fabio Carvalho

Liverpool turned down RB Leipzig’s opening offer for Fabio Carvalho, with the people behind the offer explaining that they thought it was “derisory.”

Although Carvalho is anticipated to leave Anfield this summer, the club appears to prefer to send their No. 28 on loan

According to Philipp Hinze of Sky Germany, Leipzig made a formal offer for the 20-year-old player for €12 million, and that didn’t stop them.

Liverpool rejected their initial approach, with club sources cited by The Times’ Paul Joyce as calling the offer “derisory.”. ”.

According to Football Insider’s David Lynch, Leipzig will make a new offer, and a buy-back clause could persuade the Reds to sell. However, any deal would need to be significantly improved.

Liverpool would have received £10.3 million from a bid of €12 million, which amounted to less than a £2 million profit.

When the club acquired Carvalho from Fulham in May 2022, they also agreed to a deal worth £7.7 million.

Liverpool initially paid £5 million for the young Portuguese player, and an additional £2 point 7 million was added to the deal in various add-ons.

With Carvalho having played 21 times and scoring three goals in his previous season, it is safe to assume that at least some of those add-ons have already been paid.

Another signing from the previous year saw Liverpool agree to £21.34 million in add-ons as part of the deal for Darwin Nunez, with £4.3 million paid after his first 10 games.

The modest sum of £500,000 can be used as an example of potential add-on payments to Fulham for the purposes of this explanation.

In the compensation agreement, Fulham also negotiated a 20% sell-on clause that most likely only applies to any profit Liverpool make from a sale.

A profit of £4.8 million would be left after deducting an estimated £5.5 million from Leipzig’s offer of £10.3 million, of which £960,000 would be owed to Fulham.

To Liverpool, that would only leave £3.84 million.

The club could then rationally take into account the wages paid to Carvalho during his first season at Anfield when evaluating any actual profit.

Spotrac estimates Carvalho’s annual salary at £2.08 million, or £40,000 per week, bringing any profit down to £1.76 million.

Not to mention any compensation given to the attacker’s father, Victor Carvalho, who served as a middleman in the arrangement to bring him to Liverpool.

Liverpool reportedly paid intermediaries and agents a total of £33.7 million in 2022–23 across 39 deals, according to the FA.

Given his position in Jurgen Klopp’s team, an eight figure offer for Carvalho may seem reasonable; however, it is not surprising Leipzig were rejected with such vehemence.