It's unlikely Fabio Carvalho will have imagined his early days as a Liverpool player to have gone quite like they have so far.
Four Premier League substitute appearances to date for the Reds have been varying types of games to enter. On the opening weekend, the teenager was summoned for the final 12 minutes with the team trailing at Fulham before he was tasked with sniffing out a winner for the last 10 as Jurgen Klopp's 10 men charged at the Crystal Palace defence.
A week later, Carvalho would be asked to try and turn around a two-goal deficit at Manchester United before he had a hand in Mohamed Salah's header that reduced the deficit.
Given the stature of the club he joined and the overall quality of a squad that has picked up 92 points or more in three of the last four Premier League campaigns, Carvalho would surely have not have imagined to have been asked to try and help rectify so many unwanted situations this early into his fledgling time at Anfield.
Given his age and relative inexperience at this level, it seemed harsh to expect him to turnaround three games already during what had been an disappointing start, prior to Saturday's afternoon's emphatic response at home to Bournemouth.
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But when Carvalho was once more dispatched from the bench to replace Harvey Elliott at half time at the weekend, the Portugal Under-21 international was finally entering an environment free of pressure. With Liverpool leading 5-0, the points were secure and he was given his biggest chance yet to show exactly what he was all about.
A well-struck volley from Kostas Tsimikas' intelligent, volleyed cut-back was a perfect snapshot of what Carvalho will be able to provide for the Reds over the next few years. It was a classy finish that capped off an excellent second-half showing from the ex-Fulham youngster.
"You can see from my celebration I didn’t really know what to do, I just jumped and I was just happy, celebrating,” Carvalho later told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I just wanted to give the fans something back because they have helped so much since I’ve joined, they’ve shown so much love. Hopefully I’ll be able to show them how thankful I am with my performances and goals."
Carvalho, whose birthday on Tuesday marks the end of his teenage years, would have envisioned a more gentle bedding in period but he has handled the pressure admirably and shown why Klopp was determined to bring him to Anfield earlier this year after negotiations with Fulham ticked past the transfer deadline.
At a time when injuries and suspension have cut deep for Klopp and his options, Carvalho's brief cameos have shown why there is plenty of excitement over what he can bring for the long haul as he gets set for the next stage of his career as a Liverpool player.
"He’s really good, very positive, all the things we saw from him, a great boy, a really top-class boy, well-educated, in the middle of the group, he is cheeky as well, he's ahead of his age group in this department," Klopp said on Friday of Carvalho.
"It is not too complicated to get into this team as a mate and he obviously knows Harvey Elliott longer and that’s nice to see. But he’s having an impact when he comes on. He’s top. I really like him."
Another who Carvalho can count in his list of growing admirers is Virgil van Dijk, who was asked about the versatile youngster after Saturday's game.
"I said it I think in pre-season, obviously I didn’t know him before, but I think he can be really, really good for us and as a club as well," says Van Dijk of his latest team-mate. “You need maturity at times, especially when things aren’t going well like the last couple of weeks. These guys (Carvalho and Elliott) have the right mentality that we need."
Carvalho may have been thrown into the deep end at times already this term but he has evidently handled it well as he continues to mature both as a footballer and a young man. The 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth could now see Liverpool embark on the kind of results sequence they have become more accustomed to in recent years; one that will only see their newly-turned 20-year-old develop further in the long term.
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