Liverpool failed to complete a late deal to sign Fabio Carvalho but there is still hope it can be revived but time is apparently key.
Luis Diaz was signed pretty much of out nowhere and I cannot wait to see the 25-year-old in action although right now there is no telling how long it will take to see him in action.
The Reds almost followed that up by signing Carvalho but a combination of timing and high demands from Fulham meant it was a difficult deal to wrap up for the Reds and the starlet will now spend the remainder of his contract at Craven Cottage.
What happened and why is Carvalho not at Liverpool yet?
Well, the plan was never for him to arrive at the club this month and would always have involved him returning to Fulham on loan for the rest of the season to aid their promotion push.
In that sense, nothing has changed because, technically speaking, he would not have been a Liverpool player until the summer anyway but now, there is the potential for him to be hijacked by the likes of Borussia Dortmund, who love to sign players like the 19-year-old.
Liverpool, according to Sky Sports, ran out of time to complete the deal while Fulham wanted a ‘sizeable transfer fee’ and unconfirmed rumours have suggested they were looking for as much as £15million.
That’s ridiculous considering Liverpool could get him for free pending a tribunal to decide a fee for his development costs but the Reds were required to pay £4.3m for Harvey Elliott so they should be able to get Carvalho for a lot less than what Fulham are demanding.
To make matters worse, Fulham were quite happy to take Neco Williams on loan while they were more than happy to hold Liverpool to a stalemate over talks to sign Carvalho.
Carvalho ‘might still’ join Liverpool, says Clinton Morrison
He said: “He’s one of the best youngsters in the Championship. Not many players excite me but he excites me. He’s so smooth with that football.
“I thought it would’ve been an outstanding signing For Liverpool. Listen I think it might still happen in the summer. I hope it does.
“I hope he does go to Liverpool because that young man deserves to go and work under someone like Jurgen Klopp. Marco Silva’s doing a good job with him at Fulham but going to a club like Liverpool as a youngster, that’s what you dream of.
“Carvalho obviously thought he was going to Liverpool but it’s not going to happen. But he’s got to get his had down and keep producing form he’s producing at Fulham.
“Everybody’s talking about him. He’s an exciting young talent and hopefully in the summer it does happen. I’m gutted for him because the youngster’s got some serious ability.”
Verdict: A successful transfer window unaffected by Carvalho drama
Classic Liverpool, eh? When the Reds moved so clinically to respond to Tottenham closing in on their long-term transfer target, Luis Diaz, we should have expected there might have been a spanner in the works somewhere close by.
Luckily, it’s only a minor setback and if we’re being honest, it doesn’t even have any kind of impact on Liverpool’s season at all as Carvalho would have been loaned back to Fulham in any case.
Jurgen Klopp will still get Diaz as a super-sub for the rest of the season while he teaches him the ropes. I don’ think we should expect too much from him otherwise we risk setting ourselves up for disappointment.
I saw a tweet from the Redmen TV which asked supporters to reply with their realistic predictions for how many goals and assists Diaz will get for Liverpool before the end of the season, with the Colombian already on 16 goals and 6 assists.
I think that if he can get 5 goals and 5 assists and really adapt to Klopp’s tactical demands before the season finishes, that will be a major success.