In just under a week, Fabio Carvalho will officially become a Liverpool player. Having seen a January transfer deadline day move to Anfield fail to be ratified in time, it has been a long time coming for the Portugal Under-21s international.
Fortunately that didn’t end the Reds’ interest, with them intending to send the forward back to Fulham on loan for the remainder of the season anyway. Jurgen Klopp was quite open when hinting a summer transfer would follow for the teenager instead when discussing the failed move back in February.
Sure enough, Liverpool would agree a £5m compensation package with the Cottagers for the soon-to-be out-of-contract starlet, with add-ons taking the potential value of the deal to £7.7m. And with his Fulham contract set to expire on June 30, from Friday 1 July, Carvalho will officially be a Red.
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It’s easy to see why Liverpool targeted the Portuguese, with him only the latest impressive talent to emerge from Fulham’s academy after the likes of Ryan Sessegnon and Harvey Elliott. And not just because such a pathway ensures that he will qualify as homegrown for Klopp’s side after turning 21.
He scored when handed his full Premier League debut away at Southampton in May 2021, starting upfront after the Cottagers’ relegation had been confirmed. Meanwhile, he played a starring role as they secured an immediate return to the English top-flight by winning the Championship last season, registering an impressive 10 goals and eight assists from 36 appearances as he predominantly played behind the prolific Aleksandar Mitrovic in the number 10 role for Marco Silva’s side.
Sure, such numbers did drop off after the failure of his initial move to Anfield, but that is to be expected for any teenager given the weight of the distraction, with him then delivering once more when promotion and the title were up for grabs. Now, ahead of the Reds reporting for pre-season training on July 4, Carvalho is set to step up and become one of Liverpool’s attacking options, along with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and £85m Darwin Nunez, with a potential debut back at Craven Cottage awaiting on August 6.
While Roberto Firmino and compatriot Diogo Jota ensure there are five players ahead of him in the pecking order, game-time will follow for Carvalho in the season ahead following the departures of Sadio Mane and Divock Origi, with Takumi Minamino set to follow. With substitutions permitted across the aboard this season, he will obtain minutes as a result and will, at least, look to fill the void left by the latter duo in the domestic cups as he looks to make an early impression at Anfield.
After all, when Julian Ward was appointed sporting director, one of his first calls of business was to refresh Liverpool’s front line for life beyond their traditional front three. With Salah, Mane and Firmino all on the wrong side of 30 and out of contract in 2023, the 19-year-old is as integral to such a revamp as the signings of Diaz and Nunez.
Yet it remains to be seen which role Klopp has in mind for Carvalho once he officially becomes a Reds player, with pre-season the first glimpse onlookers will get of seeing the forward unleashed. And considering the position he flourished in with Fulham last season, as a number 10 behind a striker, predominantly hasn’t existed with the German favouring a 4-3-3 formation, his arrival presents further curiosity and intrigue as a result.
Despite the majority of his senior football to date coming in this attacking midfield role, he is versatile of course. His first three Premier League starts came in different positions, upfront, on the right-wing and behind a striker, while he did occasionally play in a deeper midfield role last season.
Yet only four of his 44 appearances for Fulham came upfront or outwide. As a result, his arrival hints to a possible formation change, which many have speculated about for 2022/23, or a reinvention in a new role with Klopp no stranger to either.
There has been a suggestion he could revisit a 4-2-3-1 system that served him so well while at Borussia Dortmund following the arrival of Nunez, with such a set-up enabling him to reintroduce Firmino into his starting XI but as an attacking midfielder and protect midfield legs such as Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, with the likes of Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold still able to flourish in their roles on the flanks.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese also presents the option of being utilised as an attacking number eight in a 4-3-3, providing goals from midfield that have been lacking in the past, or even being reinvented in a new role in the front three. That is of course what Klopp originally did to Firmino, turning him from number 10 to false nine to leading striker, while fellow Fulham academy graduate Elliott enjoyed a different transformation from right-winger to central-midfield.
The fact that the 19-year-old’s young age and versatility presents so many options is one of the reasons why he is such an exciting signing, with his arrival adding a flavour of unpredictability to Liverpool for the season ahead. Given that the Reds had, for so long, experienced both the pros and cons of their famous front three being untouchable, it demonstrates how the club look to evolve.
And while Carvalho won’t be expected to make an immediate impact on Klopp’s starting XI as he is given time to bed in, his transfer still offers a glimpse into the future at Anfield as Liverpool bosses decipher the club’s next steps into an unknown new world beyond Salah, Mane and Firmino.
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