Two years into his Liverpool career, Fabio Carvalho gets a clean slate in pre-season under Arne Slot.
If last season was profitable for many of Liverpool’s young aspirations, Fabio Carvalho’s experience away from Anfield was very mixed. The Portugal Under-21 international was loaned out to RB Leipzig last summer after a campaign in which his playing time became increasingly limited as the season progressed, and he only started once for the Bundesliga club before returning to Hull City for another Championship term.
Carvalho first caught the attention of Liverpool’s decision-makers in England’s second division, with an upwardly mobile Fulham side that won the Championship in 2022 with 106 goals, 11 of which came from the youthful offensive midfielder.
After a physical in London on transfer deadline day in January 2022, the Reds ran out of time to complete a deal but remained sure they would get their man.
So much so that when questioned about Carvalho in his first post-deadline day press conference in February, then-manager Jurgen Klopp took the uncommon step of speaking openly about him. “We are still interested – it would be crazy if we were not,” replied Klopp. “It was late, the window closed, and it didn’t work out. “We will see what happens.”
A £5 million contract was agreed upon, with an additional £2.7 million in add-ons and a 20% sell-on clause attached. Liverpool worked hard to finalise the terms with Fulham, with FSG president Mike Gordon part of the delegation that met with Fulham CEO Alastair Mackintosh and owner Tony Khan, and the Reds were aware that a pre-contract agreement could have been reached with clubs on the continent, with Borussia Dortmund and Porto rumoured to be interested at the time.
In his debut season with the Reds, Carvalho was primarily a victim of circumstances. His arrival coincided with a widespread drop in form for a squad struggling to emerge from the long shadow cast by the 63-game marathon just a few months earlier, when the club had come closer than any before them to winning the quadruple, only to fall short inside the final week when Manchester City won the Premier League title by a single point and Real Madrid defeated them in the Champions League final.
A winning goal in a thrilling 2-1 victory against Newcastle in August was an early highlight, but a setback to Nottingham Forest in October marked his final Premier League appearance of the season. Prior to his loan to Leipzig, he made only three replacement appearances and one start in 2023.
Officials at both Leipzig and Hull praised Carvalho’s technical skills during both loan moves last season, with Leipzig’s then-managing director for sport, Max Eberl, saying: “Fabio is a fantastic talent – not least the signing by Liverpool demonstrates that. Fabio is quick, nimble, tricky, and imaginative. He attempts to complete himself or sets the tone for his teammates well.”
Hull manager Liam Resenoir remarked after his January move: “There are some players who see the game differently in a No.10 position. Liverpool signed him because of his boldness in taking the ball and finishing movements, in addition to his speed and athleticism.”
And, while his technical ability has never been in doubt at the AXA Training Centre, the previous regime was never able to place him in a position that best suited his talents in Klopp’s tried-and-true 4-3-3 system.
Perhaps missing the burst of pace required to thrive on the wing, Carvalho’s close control and ability to unpick the locks with passes are better suited to a place behind the striker that was not used in Klopp’s team. ‘Counter-pressing is the finest No.10’ was the prevailing consensus on the German’s watch.
Carvalho, who returns to the club under new head coach Arne Slot, will have the next two weeks to earn the trust of the new-look Liverpool squad. Still only 21, he possesses all of the tools required to succeed at Anfield, and if no decisions have been made on any incomings or outgoings as Slot prepares to have a full look at his inherited squad, the former Fulham starlet has a fantastic opportunity to prove himself.
With Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, and Luis Diaz all still in international action or on end-of-season vacations, Carvalho has a great chance to press his claim in the coming weeks. A settled position in the Slot system will be required, and a chat between coach and player may occur on that score, although Slot has already said what he expects from his offensive department.
He stated in his first news conference earlier this month, “I was hoping that if people looked at my club, they would not say it is 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, or whatever formation you want to call it.
“I was hoping they’d say they have a lot of freedom with the ball to take it in different positions. So it can be a 4-2-3-1, a 4-1-4-1, or we can work up to three. So there is a lot of ‘flexibility’ when we have the ball.
“But without the ball, there isn’t as much freedom. We want to be really aggressive, and there is only one way to do so: everyone stays primarily in their positions. I wouldn’t put myself in the position of saying I like a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, or 4-1-4-1 since there are a lot of players playing in a variety of roles.
“So, if you had asked me, I would have said we played 4-3-3 rather than 4-2-3-1 at Feyenoord.” But we did spend a lot of time with three [at the back]; full-backs play varied responsibilities.”
Given the previously unpredictable nature of his time with the Reds – especially the lack of football, loan spells, and frustrations – Carvalho’s creative potential will certainly attract additional foreign interest this transfer window.
However, Liverpool’s efforts to get him mean they are not in the mood to let him go too soon, and despite a rough couple of years on Merseyside, Carvalho returns to the AXA Training Centre this summer with the cleanest slate possible.
