Exclusive: Liverpool blocked star’s permanent transfer away, expert claims

Liverpool moved to block the inclusion of a buy option in Fabio Carvalho's loan move to RB Leipzig, according to Neil Jones in the latest edition of his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.

Posted Thursday, June 29, 2023 by Caughtoffside.com

The Portuguese midfielder only joined Liverpool from Fulham last year, and it's fair to say he didn't quite get the playing time he wanted as he pushed for a move away this summer.

Jones says this move came about more from the player's side of things, with Carvalho clearly ambitious and wanting to play regularly at the highest level.

Carvalho can hopefully do that now with Leipzig, but it seems Liverpool still think he has a future at the club as they didn't want to give the Bundesliga side the option of signing the 20-year-old permanently.

Jones also revealed that Leipzig have a long-standing interest in Carvalho, as they were one of the teams in for him before he made the move to LFC, which was felt to be a real coup at the time.

Fabio Carvalho in action for Liverpool

"Fabio Carvalho is understood to be closing in on a loan move to RB Leipzig, and I think this has been one that's been on the cards for a while after he completely fell out of favour at Liverpool since the World Cup," Jones explained.

"When he first joined last summer, following Liverpool also starting work on that deal the previous January, it was seen as a real coup for Liverpool. They beat off competition from a few other big clubs, including RB Leipzig at the time as well, and there was real excitement that they'd seen off rivals in Europe for a top young player.

"Then if you look at his first few weeks at Liverpool, it looked quite promising. He scored early on in his Anfield career, opening his account in that 9-0 win over Bournemouth, and scored that late, late winner against Newcastle not long after. He started the Merseyside Derby as well, but overall the team wasn't where it should've been, and he was one of the victims. If you look post-World Cup, he started only two games, so it's not a huge surprise that he would look to leave on loan, or even permanently this summer. I was quite struck that he didn't even get off the bench in the last game of the season against Southampton in a 4-4 draw when a lot of changes were made, and he must've been thinking 'can I really do another year of this?'

Fabio Carvalho is now heading to RB Leipzig on loan

"My understanding is that this move has come about more from the player, and understandably so if you look at how little he played after the World Cup, but I think the terms of the loan deal tell you that there's still hope he has a future at Anfield. Liverpool didn't want to give up on him immediately, and they made sure there was no buy option at the end of the loan, which I believe Leipzig were keen on.

"Liverpool still believe there's a player there who could be useful for them in the future, but for now you look at what Liverpool are trying to do in the transfer market, there's a desire to strengthen their midfield – Alexis Mac Allister is a similar sort of player who's already come in, and there could be more additions in that area, as I mentioned in my column last week, while Curtis Jones also made a really positive impact in the latter stages of last season, so there wouldn't necessarily be much chance of Carvalho playing regularly this season.

"Overall, I think this is a move that suits all parties well – Carvalho gets to go and play, and at a good level as well with a team in the Champions League and hoping to compete at the top end of the Bundesliga. Liverpool, meanwhile, get the chance to see what he can do and how he performs once he's settled and gets more opportunities. Leipzig then also get a very talented young player with a point to prove.

"As I said, Liverpool weren't keen on a buy option being in there, so I think there's still a chance, even if only a slim chance, that Carvalho comes back to Liverpool in twelve months time and is ready to make an impression on the first-team. Remember he's still only 20, so there is time for him to turn things around, even if Liverpool slightly looked like the wrong place at the wrong time for him now.

"He's an ambitious player, that's why he joined Liverpool. He believes in himself and that's why I think he and his entourage have been the driving force behind this, but I think Liverpool are sympathetic to his situation and they've also found a solution that works for them."