Liverpool could end both Chelsea and Southampton’s hopes of signing Fabio Carvalho with a pre-contract agreement.
By now, it’s common knowledge that the Reds had an 11th-hour attempt to sign the young star fail but it’s not dead in the water.
That said, there is the threat that other interested sides could hijack the framework of the deal Liverpool have in place to prevent the 19-year-old from joining Jurgen Klopp in the summer which would be a real blow.
Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea are all interested, according to Goal, but a report from Hampshire Live claims the Saints are ‘monitoring the attacking midfielder’s situation closely’ and ‘could look to bring him to St Mary’s at the end of the season’.
Their report does mention that Sky Sports are reporting that Liverpool are ‘confident’ they can still reach a pre-contract agreement to sign Carvalho in the summer which is a deal that could see off interest from Southampton, Chelsea and the interested Bundesliga sides.
Carvalho is one for the future but has the potential to be a world-beater
The attacking midfielder has 7 goals and 4 assists in the Championship this season but that doesn’t paint the full picture.
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The Portugal-born Englishman has the pace and drive to speed through space in midfield but he also has the tight control and agility to wriggle through tight areas when he needs to and that’s something Liverpool don’t have.
When Jurgen Klopp’s midfielders are faced up by a block of opposition defenders, their only option is often to play a pass to the fullbacks or to pass it backwards as they don’t have the ability to take a man on.
It’s been an issue since Philippe Coutinho left. It’s become a staple of teams’ game plans against Liverpool as they know it will work and while it forces the Reds to go through their most reliable source of creativity – their fullbacks – it’s a channel that teams can control as they can double up on Trent Alexander-Arnold and man-mark Sadio Mane and Mo Salah.
But with Fabio Carvalho, his presence would free up space in central areas and would mean midfielders would not be able to go and support the fullbacks which would in turn open up more space on the flank.
The main difference between Carvalho and Coutinho, and this is what excites me the most, is that the Brazilian only realized he could shoot in the box when he was 25 and that’s when he became world-class.
Carvalho is already very effective in the box and only takes shots outside the box when he’s in very dangerous areas instead of taking very long shots.
In all fairness to Coutinho, he is a long-range expert but if Klopp can focus on Carvalho’s runs into the box and let him develop into a world-class finisher, he could become a dangerous player in his mid-20s.
